Dark Angel: The Complete Fourth Season
by Crazy About Survivor
Summary: Episode 15: FINALLY UPDATED! An old nemesis returns and attacks Max's dearest friends. In a night of fighting and soul searching, Max raises the ultimate question.. Is she capable to love someone? Leave comments! xD
1. Episode 1: Worlds Apart Pt 1

Okay, so here we go! Another Fan Fiction season of Dark Angel. **If you have not read Season Three, Then I suggest you STOP right here!** There are a lot of story lines that you would probably not understand what's going on. It would be pointless to just read this season and try to gather what had happened. Just to tell you, reading ahead without reading the third season, would be messy and difficult to understand. Also, you missed a year of episodes! (:

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We're pretty much continuing off from the downfall of the Breeding Cult and the rise of X63.

Now, without further ado, theme song, main characters and action, enjoy!

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"Great show or rather Season Three!" Jeanette

"OMG this was awesome :D..." AndieDark

"Very good chapter, I liked the moral dilemma you presented, and how you solved it." Marcus Sylenus

**DARK ANGEL**

**The Complete Fourth Season**

Episode 1

"Worlds Apart Pt 1"

**_Readers Note:_**

**The actual show Dark Angel ended in the year of 2002. After two seasons with not much success in the fan base and having budget problems, I decided to write the third season after it left off. I went and bought the seasons on DVD and just finished watching the season two finale. I have written season three and it is currently on Fan Fiction! I was impressed of how many reviews I go! Thank you so much. This will be the first episode of Dark Angel season four! Everyone enjoy and make sure to click the review button that would be amazing, thanks (:**

**Previously on Dark Angel,**

After the siege at Jam Pony, all Transgenic's fled to dangerous Terminal City. Max stepped up and told everyone to make a stand against all the humans, making their place in the world. Shortly after, all human residents of Seattle were evacuated, leaving everything behind. The Transgenic's made their new home and prepared for battle between the Familiars and Ordinaries. Not only were Ames and the Conclave their enemy, Sierra Lakefield, voice of the people, started to manipulate everyone that Transgenic's are evil. During the course of the year, Max was hired by a police woman named Tanedra Woods, who asked her to help out with cases that may connect to Transgenic's in secrecy. Max often thought that she was working with the enemy, Sierra. Near the end, Sierra was revealed to be the head of the Red Robes, a group of lethal cult members in some sort of an alliance with Ames's Breeding Cult. Together, they searched for the legendary Demon Hand, a device constructed in the seventies to open a seal, unleashing the X63 project onto earth. X63 is said to be a weapon of some kind, capable of destroying mankind. Along the bumpy ride, Max dragged along new allies with her, including, Sara, Tanedra, and Erinn, an undercover agent from the FBI, to protect Ordinaries and go through with Project Extermination. To rid of all Familiars. Just recently, Sierra convinced the humans to take back their homes, breaking into Seattle's borders and ultimately creating chaos. Max took the leader role and broke the gang down into three different teams in order to successfully stop the Coming; end of the world. After the long battle, Max defeated the remaining leaders of the Breeding Cult and finding out Ames's true weakness, Transgenic blood. Before Celia died, she told Max that she had a brother, also that her mother was still alive. Once that was over, the gang met in the Manticore ruins and all faced the end when X63 rose from his grave. Just after that, Max mysteriously awakens in an apartment, clueless.

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3 Months Later...........

Seattle was louder than usual that night. The Ordinaries all had their homes back and suffering the depression once again. Except, there hasn't been sight of a Transgenic in three months. The government did the counting and fifty-five lives were lost in the chaos last year. Sierra Lakefield had ran away from Washington after Eyes Only broad casted that she was the mastermind behind everything. Serves Suites her right for trying to end the transgenic brethren. All you know, she's out there with General Boyd and X63, killing people, and bringing about the prophecy to profit her.

Logan walked back and forth in his apartment, passing all the computers. There has been no sign of Max anywhere for three months and he started to get worried. The red walls in his apartment started to loose its touch, peeling off in pieces. He bit his index finger as he thought of various possibilities. This wasn't like two years ago when he thought she was dead, he knew Max was out there. As Logan pondered, Renee Hart walked past him holding a container of Chinese take-out. She was wearing a dark red, leather out-fit and her shoulder length dark chocolate hair in a tie. She was your typical sweet pretty girl next-door type, very athletic and charming. To Renee, Logan was her superior in missions and growing as a human being. He convinced her just like Asha that he works for Eyes Only as well. Together, they fight crime and bring justice to all.

Renee Hart had been working for Eyes Only for three months now. Ever since she was little, she wanted to avenge her parent's death. When walking down the street, she met Logan Cale, follower of Eyes Only like herself. Filled with questions about his whereabouts, Logan took her into his own care. Together, they have been fighting against a sinister company called -i-Corp. Specializing in robotics, -i-Corp built tones of projects to benefit themselves. Logan had connected them to the X2-bot that was sent after Original Cindy last year. They somehow took apart Diamond's real body parts and assembled a creature, similar to X63. Logan has kept Eyes Only's identity secret from Renee in hopes of keeping her out of danger. For the past three months, the Eyes Only haters have increased in numbers.

"You know, if you keep worrying about her, you're going to get stress wrinkles." Renee said, munching on sesame chicken. "I know you'll find her, it will take time."

Logan stared down at the hardwood of his apartment, rocking back and forth. He could keep picturing Max's face in his head. Just last week, he got a lead on her whereabouts. Matt Sung had been helping him out on Max's disappearance case. If Logan was going to find Max soon, there was no time for breaks.

"Renee, I need to keep looking. I know she's close." Logan whispered. "We need to locate the exact area -i-Corp is built. If we can get there, I think we might be able to get Max back."

"Logan, we still don't know if Max is even there. -i-Corp is many things that I hate and you know that I wish more than ever to break them down. I don't think that rushing this Operation would get her back sooner. I think we should contact Eyes Only, maybe he might know where -i-Corp is located." Renee sweetly said, rubbing his shoulders as he sat down beside her. Logan was thinking of returning to Terminal City after not showing his face for three months. The world just wasn't the same after Max disappeared.

"What are you thinking about? Going back to Terminal City?" she asked, sipping her coke. "Logan, don't you think that's over stepping the boundaries a little bit?" Renee asked doubtfully. Logan wasn't prepared to face Max's kind again, but he had to. Maybe, Mole and the others knew where he could start looking.

"That's our last resort." he said, grabbing his jacket.

Terminal City had changed for the greater good. Just last month, Mole and the rest of the gang set up a group called "The Council.". Together, they worked through all the situations that the Transgenic's come across in secret. The leader board consists of six main people, designated to different departments of Terminal City. The first was the weapons inventory, locked up in a room. Mole was in charge of the distribution of armed weapons specifically used in combat strictly.

Cindy had finally opened her restaurant; a little place in downtown Seattle. It had a lovely welcoming feel to it. The walls were ruby red and furniture was black. Logan got a deal for furniture with a right person he knew. Also, as a friendly jester, Alec had given her his prized possession; his leather chair. She could remember when he made a fuss about the leather chair she sat on. Logan on the other hand, hadn't seen anyone of the gang for months.

Rene and Logan walked outside to his car, opening the doors. Renee wasn't overly excited in talking with Mole and the Council again. Since the last time she met them, they weren't welcoming at all for any humans. Logan used to be close with their Transgenic Brethren but things weren't the same without Max by his side. Logan started the car and took a deep breath. He wanted to rethink what he was doing. _Max was worth any risk, _he thought.

"I can do this!" he said, driving out of the parking lot. Renee looked out of her window, watching the entire poverty pass by. Humans had taken over Seattle once again and pushed Transgenic's to Terminal City. The District Attorney had set up a plan with Manticore's projects that they were allowed to take Terminal City as their own. Citizens weren't exactly thrilled of the idea that the Government was letting 'Monsters' live in Seattle.

Trashcans were lit with fire, providing warm light to all those without homes. People aimlessly roamed the streets of Seattle, constantly looking for food and employment. It sickened Renee that the Government could just let people live like this. What has the world come to?

"You know, we should stop by Cindy's. Tell her that your back for the time being." Renee said, averting her eyes over to Logan. "She would like to know that you're alright. I remember her telling me that you always made her Boo happy." she giggled. "She hasn't lost hope in Max. She knows that she's somewhere out there."

Logan thought about it for a long time. Seeing Original Cindy and the rest of the gang once more would be distracting to his mission. He loved them all but Max always came first. Terminal City was enough of a problem in his mind at the current moment. Mole wasn't so happy that Logan still existed. X63's escape after the Demon Hand was used pretty much ruined their relationship. If Logan was going to get any answers out of the Council, then he needed to be persuasive.

"Not now, I think we should just stick to the plan." he said, driving down Seattle. Renee frowned and gazed out the window once more.

--

Several scientists walked around Max's body as she lay sleeping. They watched closely as the computers beside them beeped endlessly. They were monitoring her heart beat and blood flow. For three months, Max has been an excellent test subject for their newest machine. General Jack Boyd entered the room with her arms behind, gracefully gliding next to his workers. When Tri-tech fell into the hands of the law, Boyd continued his illegal testing and joined -i-Corp. Sierra Lakefield not only helped him out of his cage, he has now begun the beginning stages of his end game.

He looked at Max and caressed her head, feeling her long silky hair. She had been asleep for three months in counting, while they tested her. To Boyd, the mind was a brilliant thing. He spent years researching the human brain and how it functioned. Max was the perfect subject to test his newest creation on. Boyd looked behind the scientists at the big roaring machine. It was carefully constructed to alter ones thoughts. With the right machinery, he was able to create the biggest thing on the black market to date.

He had connected a wire to her brain stem and altered her thoughts for the first time. The machine is able to make the user believe they are in some other world. When X63 was released by Sierra, General Boyd found Max unconscious. With the aid of some Red Robes, he dragged her to -i-Corp's facility. For three months, she has been experiencing a different world created by him. He looked deep into her shut eyelids and wondered where she was at the moment. Her thoughts were being altered and she believed that she was in an apartment.

Max looked out the window, trying to remember what happened with her. She was fighting Sierra's Red Robes and suddenly, X63 was released. This couldn't be right, the world was totally different. The people were changed and all Transgenic's were extinct. Where was she? Max ran to a cabinet and searched for a weapon of some kind. If she was going to walk outside in that apocalypse, she needed something handy.

After searching through this mysterious apartment, there was a knock on the door. Max's eyes widened in fear. Who was at the door? She paced to the rotted wood door and leaned against the wall. On the count of three, she was going to break open the door. Then she heard a familiar voice.

"Max?" a woman asked, curious. Max was confused. _Cindy?_

"Who is it?" Max challenged, holding the doorknob.

"What's wrong with you, Boo? It's your Original Cindy, open up!" she demanded. Max opened the door and hugged her friend without looking.

"I missed you so much. I thought I was lost and.." she was interrupted by Cindy's soft voice.

"What are you talking about, I was with you a couple of hours ago. Are you trippin?" Cindy asked, walking into the apartment. She pulled her hair out of the tie and Max noticed many little details different on her friend. First, Cindy's hair was jet back and she was wearing army clothes.

"What's with the G.I Joe costume?" Max asked, examining her best friend. Cindy rolled her eyes and pointed to the window. She looked down at the broke city of Seattle and back at Max.

"Boo, this is why! Don't you remember what you said to me three months ago. Always be prepared. Well, I have my guns and I'm ready to shoot any bitches who come through that door!" she shouted, loading her gun. Max backed away, shocked.

"Cindy, what's happening?" Max asked again. "I seriously don't remember anything that happened these past three months. All I remember was kicking White's ass then Sierra opening X63's seal."

Cindy frowned.

"That's all you remember?"

"God, yes! Do I have to keep telling you? Where are Logan and Alec? We should get them here and find out what's happening."

"Hold up, Original Cindy ain't know what's happening here. Alec and Logan are dead, you know that. Sara and Joshua are with Sandeman and your mother." Cindy explained. "Now, come on, let's go find Sandeman, he might know what's happening to you."

"My mother?" Max asked, tearing. "I thought she was dead. I mean, Celia told me that she was alive, but I didn't believe her at all. My mom's really alive?"

--

In the real world, Logan and Renee drove up to Terminal City Head Quarters and waited for someone to open the gates. Barbed wire crawled the iron fence and torches were lit, providing a warm glow on the moist road. Two Transgenic guards, armed with machine guns, walked up to the two humans. The first one was another canine looking one, with features similar to Joshua's. He wore an army suit and growled at Renee as she moved closer to the gate.

"What do you want?" asked Cane, the canine Transgenic. "You know that you're not allowed beyond these barriers."

Logan averted his eyes over to Renee and back at Cane. She tried to grab his arm and leave, but he wouldn't let her.

"Come on, I think we should just get outta here. They don't seem to want us 'round these parts." Renee said, heading to the car. Logan whispered into her ear so Cane and the other Transgenic wouldn't hear what he had to say.

"No, trust when I say that I think they can help with the Operation." he said. "Just follow my lead-" Logan looked back up at Cane. "-Okay, let's make a deal here boys. Let us enter Head Quarters and speak with the Council. I believe that we can come to a consensus."

Cane growled and Logan, pointing the gun at both of their heads. Renee could hear the locking of the trigger. Abruptly, fear started to rear its ugly head and she began to tremble. The last thing she wanted was a Transgenic holding her at gunpoint. Entering Terminal City after what happened three months ago, seemed a little far-fetched. Logan wasn't taking no for answer. He wanted to speak to the Council.

"Now wait a second, your orders weren't to kill Miss Hart and I. Believing that you have some sense of humanity beneath your tough-boy interior, you're going to put that gun down. So is your little friend beside ya." Logan was able to talk them into not killing them for the time being. Giving them just enough time to speak to the Council about the problem at hand.

"This isn't a good idea, Logan. You made a deal to the Council that you would never show your face again. They might not take no for an answer." Cane snorted, signaling another Transgenic to open the Terminal City gates. Followed by Cane, Renee and Logan entered H.Q to speak with the Council. After passing by a couple of graffiti sprayed walls and trashcans filled to the top, they reached an open room. Logan remembered the night he brought Eyes Only back to life. He still had a wound from the bullet shot Celia gave him. That was that last time he stepped foot into Terminal City Head Quarters. The Council was pretty firm on their decision to keep Logan away from their territory.

Renee watched as numerous Transgenic's ran back and forth to different designated stations. The Council on the higher level of the building, answering telecoms from certain Transgenic's on missions, sent some out.

"Logan, are you sure you want to do this?" she asked, biting her nail. "We can still leave. I kind of want to keep my hands."

Logan wanted to keep his hands as well, but he had to take the risk for Max. The Council had this sick twisted way of torturing people who betrayed their kind. For some reason, they fancied taking the hands of the dirty worker, the culprit. Mole entered the room from the upper level of Head Quarters with two Transgenic's by his side. Renee watched as the lizard-like being walked up in front of her.

"What in the hell are you doing coming here?" shouted Mole, exchanging glares with Logan. Renee shook her head, not knowing what to say to the man of authority.

Renee was speechless. "I-I just followed Logan here on some business." she stammered

"Not many would have shown their faces here after what happened. The world has changed completely and the Government has let us claim this our territory. Logan, not only does it show that you have a pair of big ones, but you bring a new chick here. Wasn't Asha enough for you Logan?" he taunted. "She might have disappeared but you know Asha has a thing for you."

"Asha didn't disappear, she's visiting family out of the city. I'm not here to argue Mole, I'm here to speak with the Council. Max has been missing for three months now, don't you think we should look for answers!" Logan demanded, eying him down. "I know for a fact that without Max here, you guys are useless. If it weren't for Max, you Transgenic's wouldn't have the chance at freedom." he continued. "We both know that having Max back would be a blessing."

"Follow me, but don't come crying to me if the Council disapproves of you." Mole snarled, leading them upstairs to a massive steal door, painted dark green. As Renee walked by all of the workers, some growled and others stared. She approached the door and Mole opened it up. Upon pushing the giant door open, Renee and Logan entered a large circular room that was lit up by bright wall lights hung low by dangling wires. A large table stood in the middle of the room, with six different chairs circling around the dark oak. All members sat at their chairs, with hands folded and menacing looks across their different faces. Renee noticed all the different types of Transgenic's that sat as members of the Council.

The first, was a large looking man, very bulky. His skin was of a dark green and eyes were ruby red. His name was Sarge, formally known as a Sergeant X7-023. In Manticore, he used to be the head of the combat department; created to be part of the staff. When Max destroyed Manticore and opened all the cages, he left as well, entering into a broken world. Another member was named Lilith, a cat DNA-filled Transgenic. She was very tough and dangerous. You don't want to get in a fight with her. Lilith was the head of the missions department. She made sure that everyone got back safely after being sent on a mission. Her bar-code name was X7-345. Mostly, the Council was made up of X7's.

Logan approached the table and glared at the members.

"What are you doing here, human?" asked Lilith. "I thought you told us that your face was not going to be shown."

"Hold down, Lilith. I need your help with something, I need all your guys help. Max has been missing for three months now, aren't you a little bit worried?" Logan challenged.

"No, why would we be? You know what she did to us! 452 released that creature onto this earth and now it's out there, killing our kind." Sarge growled.

"Our best chance at stopping this creature from succeeding is to lay low now." Lilith added. "Time will only tell."

"Excuse me, but you think that Max is the bad seed?" Renee questioned. "I thought she was supposed to lead you through the coming apocalypse or something."

"Don't question our motives." Lilith snapped.

"Who died and made you queen?" Renee asked, crossing her arms. Lilith flicked her wrist and two guards grabbed Renee by the arms and lifted her up. Logan waved her arms to stop Lilith from executing Renee.

"Hold on one second! We don't need your help." Logan shouted, grabbing Renee and leaving Head Quarters. Mole and others watched as the two humans stormed out of the facility. They headed towards the car and Renee stopped Logan in his tracks.

"Logan, what are you doing?" she asked. "Because of what happened there, we'd be lucky if we could even talk to someone of superior power." Renee snorted back at him. She was utterly shocked how Logan handled the situation back in Head Quarters. Lilith was a very strong person and was responsible for many decisions for Terminal City and the Council. It was formed three months ago, after the apparent release of project X63; the beast. After the reign of terror he had placed upon Terminal City and left several wounded and dead, Lilith and others created the Council, in order to bring down X63 and bring new order to Terminal City. After they took charge, the term "Freak Nation" was abandoned. It was believed to be a name of a buried society, forever gone. Terminal City was the area in which Transgenic's lived. Max's Freak Nation has fallen apart since the rise of The Council. If Logan were ever to find Max before The Council has total influence over her brethren, she might have a slight chance to bring back Freak Nation in this extreme fight for power. Max had more enemies than she can count. Logan was ready to help her fight this war against the Coming of a new beast.

"We have to reassemble the gang."

--

General Boyd wrote Max's progress down on his journal entries. Each spill of his inky pen that caresses the lined, white paper, discussed the alternate reality. He built a new world for the users of the machines to believe they were inside. Max thought she was in a new apocalyptic future, where X63 ruled the nation. This plan was made by Sierra and Boyd a couple of months ago. During his time at Tri-Tech, he had been communicating with the owner of their company, -i-Corp. They provided them with missions and people to study on, including Sara. She was the main project in Tri-tech for the longest time. Studying her abilities to create fire became an obsession.

When Sierra Lakefield broke General Boyd out of his cell in the District Attorney's jail, they unraveled their plan to kidnap Max and study her DNA in -i-Corp's facility. Sandeman was their next prerogative; he was somewhere out in the world, hiding from them. He carried all the answers and their was proof that he was still alive, somewhere. The last time Sierra contacted Boyd was when she realized that Tanedra Woods, was on her tracks. Ever since the death of her husband, Tanedra wanted revenge on Sierra for killing her family. She hasn't been in Seattle for three months now, looking for Sierra and X63.

-i-Corp has tried to pick up conversations between Logan Cale and Tanedra Woods on the phone, but it hasn't worked. Without Max, the world was useless. She was the only one to stop the end from falling upon humanity. Sierra was hiding with X63, killing people for a certain blood type. X63 runs on a certain fuel to keep him going; the rarest blood in the world to date. Only so many people are carriers of this rare flowing blood. Sierra's has to be a little more careful now a days because she is the D.A's 4th on his most wanted list of criminals. Ever since the world pretty much witnessed the releasing of X63, everyone just wasn't the same. Boyd walked out of Max's room and approached a major door with the number 89 pasted across in white paint. He swiped his card and opened the door. On a lab table in front of him, lay the remains of someone once on the good side. Asha had been assassinated, on Boyd's orders, so he could use her appearance. After sending two workers to shoot her in the head three months ago, he had planned to construct a spy-bot; a creation of his to watch over Logan and his friends in Terminal City. Since he couldn't step foot in the area of Head Quarters, might as well send Asha-bot to be his eyes and ears. It was a good thing that her death was not known to anyone. He made up a story that Asha went out of town, visiting some people. When the time was right, he was going to send out the Asha-bot to spy on everyone else.

In the meantime, he was playing around with Max's head, making her believe his own alternate reality is real. He covered Asha's body and walked back into Max's room.

--

Alec and Sara watched Tv in their new apartment. She watched as she played with her engagement ring.

"You know, we're never going to find Max if we just sit here." Sara said.

"Honey, just watch TV, it's not good for you to panic and be all stressed." he said, chewing down on popcorn.

"But-" Sara snorted, being interrupted.

"But nothing, Logan made it very clear that he doesn't want to see us anymore. Then why should he." Alec added bitterly. "Just relax, we can't have you stressing out, that might hurt little Christopher." he said, rubbing her belly.

"Who said it was going to be a boy?" she asked, standing up and revealing her pregnant belly.

--

Three gaslights lit up a narrow pathway that led to Seattle's newest restaurant. Cynthia "Original Cindy" McEachin walked over to a large crowd of people and sat them down. Even though the pulse hit badly, she still could dig up some good cooking objects. Her whole life, she loved to put on make-up and teach others how too. For some reason, during the events of last year, she realized her love for cooking was extreme. She took the love even higher when she opened her own restaurant. Even though she had only been working for a little bit now, she was making enough profit to satisfy. Three months ago, Linsay and her continued their friendship and made into something else all together. They've been dating for some time now, going on coffee dates and hooking up at her restaurant. Linsay was around all the time, that Cindy offered her a small little job at the restaurant to help out a bit for some extra cash. Cindy had already filled Linsay in on everything there was about Transgenic's and Max. Linsay totally comfortable with knowing the information and she wanted to be part of the gang and help. Besides, it's nice to have a person on the side with the law on their team. Tanedra lost her job and is now on the lookout for the woman who destroyed her family.

Joshua walked over to Cindy from the back table and covered his face.

"Original Cindy, no one's going to see me right?" he asked, glaring at a little boy who was grabbing some forks. "I mean, customers would loose it if they saw a big scary dog boy serving them their food. I know that the whole world is kind of excepting of us now, but I should really stay low."

"Boo, listen up. You will get through this whole society crap. Soon enough, you will have no guilt and fear of walking out on the streets. Non at all my friend." she said, handing some change to a customer. "Anyways, I know Max is out there, she will put a stop to anything that she finds wrong. In the meantime, we need to help out our Boo by finding out about this Triad and why Sierra bitch and this X63 whatever are looking for."

"Honey, I don't think the Council will let us." Linsay said, entering the conversation. "The D.A has been watching very closely on Terminal City."

"You're right. We need to solve this bitch without anyone knowing. If the Council were to find out about this, they could have us killed. Max is somewhere, I know it. Sierra has something to do with her disappearance." Cindy pondered, placing a bottle of sauce back on the counter. Joshua covered his face away from some incoming customers.

"I know it's been awhile but do you think we should get in contact with Erinn and the FBI?" asked Linsay. "She would probably have to help us in secret because the FBI would frown upon that. She's been a little upset lately that her project, her Trangenic is nowhere to be found."

"I guess we could Boo, I just can't stop thinking about Logan. He has had to suffer for a great amount of time now. It's hard to keep on loving someone if their worlds are just so far apart." Cindy said, frowning. Suddenly, Linsay and Joshua looked at the open front door. Standing there was shivering Renee and strong Logan with his fists tightly closed. Cindy dropped her towel and rolled her eyes.

"Look what the cat dragged into my restaurant after three months." she said, resting her arm on her waist. Logan smirked.

"Long time no talk Original Cindy, It's time we talk. We need to get Max back, now."

To be continued................

Next Time on Dark Angel,

The thrilling second part of this two episode special comes close. As General Boyd and Sierra close in on their endgame, the Council fears that X63 will strike again. Logan and Renee gather the gang back together one more time to help get back Max from the sinister -i-Corp. This will be the ultimate test of loyalty and trust as they enter battle blind folded from everyone's true motives. Will everyone get back together and find Max? or will this be the end of what once use to be Freak Nation?

An All-New Dark Angel, Coming Soon.....

**APPEARANCES**

Max

Logan

Cindy

Alec

Sara

Joshua

SPG (Special Guest)

Renee Hart

Asha

Linsay Gomez

Mole

General Jack Boyd

Sarge

Lilith


	2. Episode 2: Worlds Apart Pt 2

**Readers Note: **Okay, part two of this crazy episode. I know I know, it's confusing, but that's what happens when a show jumps three months in the future. Things are meant to change in that time period. I can say right now that everything will become clear very soon as the season progresses. Thank you to those who decided to review to the premiere episode. That made my night! :) Hopefully your questions from the last episode will be answered in this episode. I'm trying to bring forth new story lines cause this season has lots and lots. You always need to be on track. :) Now, enjoy and tell me what you think.

**DARK ANGEL**

**The Complete Fourth Season**

Episode 2

"Worlds Apart Pt 2"

**Previously on Dark Angel,**

After the siege at Jam Pony, all Transgenic's fled to dangerous Terminal City. Max stepped up and told everyone to make a stand against all the humans, making their place in the world. Shortly after, defeated all human residents of Seattle were evacuated, leaving everything behind. The Transgenic's made their new home and prepared for battle between the Familiars and Ordinaries. Not only were Ames and the Conclave their enemy, Sierra Lakefield, voice of the people, started to manipulate everyone that Transgenic's are evil. During the course of the year, Max was hired by a police woman named Tanedra Woods, who asked her to help out with cases that may connect to Transgenic's in secrecy. Max often thought that she was working with the enemy, Sierra. Near the end, Sierra was revealed to be the head of the Red Robes, a group of lethal cult members in some sort of an alliance with Ames's Breeding Cult. Together, they searched for the legendary Demon Hand, a device constructed in the seventies to open a seal, unleashing the X63 project onto earth. X63 is said to be a weapon of some kind, capable of destroying mankind. Along the bumpy ride, Max dragged along new allies with her, including, Sara, Tanedra, and Erinn, an undercover agent from the FBI, to protect Ordinaries and go through with Project Extermination. To rid of all Familiars. Just recently, Sierra convinced the humans to take back their homes, breaking into Seattle's borders and ultimately creating chaos. Max took the leader role and broke the gang down into three different teams in order to successfully stop the Coming; end of the world. After the long battle, Max the remaining leaders of the Breeding Cult and finding out Ames's true weakness, Transgenic blood. Before Celia died, she told Max that she had a brother, also that her mother was still alive. Once that was over, the gang met in the Manticore ruins and all faced the end when X63 rose from his grave. Just after that, Max mysteriously awakens in an apartment, clueless.

Spilt trashcans plagued the moist, haunting alleyway in Seattle. A massive neon sign exploded colors of blue and purple sparks upon a homeless man's shelter. Logan and Renee walked over to a large steel door that rust had already gotten its way. He pulled the large lever and with Renee's assistance, they pulled it back with all their strength. She followed alongside with him, trying to ignore the scary darkness that lay ahead. She turned on her flashlight and Logan gently pushed it down, blocking the beaming ray of light.

"Don't use that, I don't want him to know we're here." Logan said, tiptoeing towards another door. "If we're going to get Max back soon, we need to be fully prepared and he has everything we need."

"Who is this person exactly?" she asked, helping him with another large steel door. Logan turned off the flashlight and guided her in the right direction.

"His name is Richardo Santos; as an ex-military soldier, he had gained access to the governments most useful arms. Not only is he one of the most wanted on the District Attorney's list alongside with Sierra, but he is the most sneaky person out there. I gave him some money awhile back and he has found a handful of pre-pulse weapons and gadgets that we can use to bring down -i-Corp. I'm sure that he doesn't know we're coming. See on the wall, there's a wire that follows to the main Head Quarters of his base. If he thinks there are any intruders, with a flick of his wrist, the alarm will set off and poison gas will enter our lungs." Logan explained digging into his pockets for change. "I need a penny, do you have one? If I can use one to break into the security circuit."

Renee grabbed a penny from her pocket and handed one to Logan. "And how exactly do you know how to disable his security base?" she asked, shinning the flashlight on his project.

"He trust me enough to learn the basic procedures, I guess I'm listed as a favorite customer." he explained, inserting the penny into the slot and twisting it to the left. Suddenly, a loud click echoed and all the lights turned on in the room. Renee scanned her surroundings and viewed thousands of electronics and weapons. Many of which he had stolen from his job in his years working. Richardo stepped into her vision and graced the room with his mysterious Latino looks. His dark hair was spiked with gel and he was wearing a long, leather jacket. Renee smiled and hid behind Logan to make sure she wasn't a target in anyway. Richardo smiled and paced his way towards Logan.

"Logan, my dear friend. Long time no talk. I'm glad that you've decided to keep in touch. I also noticed that you remembered my little procedures I taught you." spoke Richardo, with his strong Latino accent. "Who is this I see behind your strong posture, a lady? A very beautiful lady I might add, come out and show yourself. Don't worry, I don't bite during the first meet." he laughed. Renee glared at Logan for approval and stepped out into the open. Her hair was beautiful and he admired everything she was.

"Such beautiful presence that stands before me. Your name?" he asked. Renee swallowed deep; she didn't want to say anything to his man. She didn't know for sure who he was did explain that he was a sneaky rat and will do anything to get what he wants. She decided to play along.

"Renee, my name is Renee. It has come to my knowledge that you can help us with some gadgets. Enlighten me." she said strong. Renee knew that finding Max was the first step in taking down -i-Corp. "Recent reports say that you are a very popular man on the D.A's list."

Richardo giggled and averted his eyes over to Logan. "She's a sassy one. I like her. Sorry, without further ado, I will describe to you what I've found on the market. I was talking to some guy a couple of days ago and he gave me the 101 on this facility called -i-Corp; dangerous stuff. Are you sure you want to interfere with this? I know your friend is there but is she worth the risk?" he challenged, lifting a device up from the table.

"Yes," Logan answered. "Max is everything to me. I, we need her back."

Renee understood Logan's pain. When her parents died, she couldn't bare the fact that they were gone from this world. Ya, the world was corrupt, but they were the light the broke through the darkness. "Okay, enough talk. We need to know if you got everything ready for tonight. We have some friends waiting for us." she said, smiling at Logan. Renee and Logan watched as Richardo loaded a gun in his hand.

"I have found some pretty interesting stuff here on the market. I sure know that it will cost your more than what we dealt. The gadgets, uh, weapons that I found are pretty interesting indeed." he said, handing Renee a loaded gun. "This here is the first one."

"It just looks like a normal hand-gun." Logan said, watching as Renee played with it between hands. Richardo laughed.

"Yes, but look at the bottom. Not only does it provide you with a laser beam at the bottom to help your aim, it also is a lock breaker. Explaining further, it beams out a hot laser that can melt through anything, usually used to open locks years ago. Maybe around 2009." he said. "That's a very expensive piece. I remember my days in the S1W, we looked for these babies, never could find them."

"S1W? I thought you were part of the government." stated Renee. "They are considered a terrorist association by the authorities who want to get rid of them. Their organization is not prepared and members are few but enough to frighten the government. Usually associated with our contact, Eyes Only. You were apart of their group?" she asked. "Completely different from your other job."

"Well, yes, I was. We worked together to take down unjust societies. Using the newest technology, I became addicted. When I quit my job, working for the military, I joined them. I found out something very unsettling about whom I worked for and I decided to quit. My boss filed a report to the D.A's office and I became a criminal." Richardo explained. "A past in which I would not like to remember."

"Who were you working for?" Logan asked. "I mean, they got to be very powerful in order to make you a criminal like that."

Richardo paused for a long second. He didn't want to say, but he had too.

"Tri-tech."

**DARK ANGEL**

Erinn McNeil entered into the District Attorney's office holding a pile of folders. In each folder held a sheet of paper describing possible jury members for Gordon's next case in court. For the past three months, she had been away on a vacation and just recently came back. During her months away from her undercover job at the office, she spent most of time tracking down possible leads on the mysterious whereabouts of X63 and Sierra. The FBI department she has been working for allowed her to take the case since it did involve her project, Max. She was assigned 452 a long time ago to be her protector. Erinn often thought that she wasn't so great at her job if she got her Transgenic taken away by a sinister corporation.

She missed talking with the gang and socializing. She had received over a dozen messages from various people asking where she was at the moment. Original Cindy had asked for her help during the summer period she was away. Erinn thought that it wouldn't be smart for her to reveal that she was back in town because it could possibly make her a target. Another reason why she came back was because there had been recent reports by The New World Weekly, written by Marcus Reed that dozens of bodies have been appearing all over the city. Erinn wasn't so thrilled about that information until she read that all the bodies had a recurring pattern. All the victims had a certain blood type that was really rare. If Erinn could remember, X63 fed off humans that were carriers of that certain blood type.

She was going to pay Marcus a visit and see if he knew anymore information on victims. For a little bit longer, she was going to be undercover at the District Attorney's office. If there were anyway she was going to get information from the government, it was here at this office. Everyone still thought she was the secretary that worked for D.A Gordon, of course Max knew she wasn't. Erinn also tried to get in contact with Tanedra Woods awhile back. Last time she heard from her, she was closing in on Sierra's tracks. Erinn made it clear that she was going find Max and take down the person responsible. Linsay Gomez entered the office and placed her cell phone into her purse, walking into her office. Erinn followed behind and entered in as well.

"I thought you were going to gone for the rest of the night." Erinn said, watching as Linsay sat down and turning on her laptop. "How is everyone, I miss them?"

"Huh, well, I figured I needed to finish some work before the end of the night. Also, when did you come back from your little vacation or should I say, hunt?" Linsay asked. Original Cindy had filled her in on the scoop about Erinn and her FBI secret department. "I know everything there is to know about you miss McNeil. Cindy told me everything. I hope that's okay with you."

"Totally fine with me. Just remember not to tell anyone about my little secret. If the D.A found out about this undercover thing, I would be not only be fired, but sharing a cell with Sierra." they laughed. "How's Cindy and everyone else, are they okay?"

Linsay smiled and showed Erinn a picture of herself and Cindy that was on her large desk. "This is a picture of us on the night before the opening of Cindy's restaurant." she said, handing it to Erinn by the door. "That was a fun night. You could have been there if you didn't mysteriously disappear after you said you were taking a vacation. By the way, your paycheck is on it's way to the bank. I counted all your days and added the total you took off." she explained.

"Thank you." Erinn said, noticing D.A Gordon walking into the room. "Good Morning sir, anything on the cases from the newspaper. Should I go speak with Mr. Reed?" she asked. Gordon walked into the office deeper and stood in between the two women. He was excited to say the information he held.

"No, there will be no need for that. Mr. Reed is here in questioning. Linsay, you may take any responsible action. You have three hours with Mr. Marcus Reed, use it wisely. He might have more leads on this body count than we think." he said, leaving the room. Erinn and Linsay looked at each other with curiosity. They were going to have to work together to solve this case. Both of them headed out of the office and towards the questioning room. Erinn entered the steel door that opened to a very enclosed room. The humidity was strong and there was a very small light above the mans head. Marcus Reed, news reporter for The New World Weekly, watched as Linsay sat on the chair in front of him.

"Hello, Mr. Reed. I have a couple of questions for you about the article you wrote in this weeks issue. I have source that told me you might know more than you lead on." she said, glaring into his blue eyes. Marcus has spiked brown hair and a beautiful bone structure on his face. Linsay may be a proud lesbian but even Marcus tingled her inside. He was just beautiful to look at. He cleared his throat and frowned.

"Yes, I am a reporter for The New World Weekly, but I don't know anymore than what's on the issue. I had a couple of contacts that helped me get some information. I don't see why you need me here for questioning unless you're hiding something important from the citizens of Seattle. I have a strong nudge in my head now thinking that the District Attorney is hiding something." Marcus explained, smirking. "I know you people wouldn't want any secrets being let out-" he looked at her name tag. "-Miss Gomez."

"You truly are a reporter. Let me tell you something, I don't like them. Almost two years ago, you reporters sent out a story about living mutants. Do you know how much chaos that created in Seattle?" she asked, glaring at Marcus. He smiled and stretched his arms up high.

"Well, it ended up being true. Those Transgenic's are real and do live in that Terminal City. I can tell you that it's pretty horrible that the District Attorney let them stay alive." he so bitterly said. Linsay was disgusted of how he spoke about Transgenic's. Erinn watched from the two way mirror, trying to collect any information as possible. Anything that helped her get a lead on X63 was a good thing.

"Look, I need to get home to my Fiancé, she's making dinner for our friends tonight and I need to host." he pleaded. "I don't want her to know that I was in this room today."

"Lauren Benello? Is that correct, your other half's name?" Linsay asked. "She's a pretty girl, I have pictures in her file. It seems that little miss has a police record, charged for assault. She's got a pretty colorful profile." Linsay smiled, looking through the files. Marcus rolled his eyes and touched Linsay's hand.

"Please, may I go? I promise, I don't know anything else about this rare blood type situation. I just received information from my contact."

"Who's your contact, Mr. Reed?"

"They told me not to tell anyone."

--

Logan and Renee entered Cindy's apartment and handed everyone the weapons given to them from Richardo. Cindy held a gun up in the air and tried to aim. She had never really used a gun before. That one time she shot the Phalanx leader in the head to save her Boo was her first time. She didn't like the idea of killing anyone in the world. Taking a life was last on her list of things to do. Her Max had been missing for such a long time that she would do anything to help her. Max was her sister, her family. Cindy's family was very small and she hardly ever saw her mother. Cynthia's father had died a long time ago; something she had failed to tell any of her friends. She could remember one night, when he abused her mother. Cindy just sat behind a counter and watched in fear as her mother was being attacked. She was so little at the time that she couldn't do anything at all. To this day, Cindy regretted that night because she didn't help her mother in the fight. Years later, Cindy's father was sent to jail, then she heard news that he had died from a brawl in the cell. Her mother moved away and Cindy started to date Diamond. She wondered if she would every see her mother again.

Joshua lifted a gadget and started t examine it, playing around. Logan took it out of his hands. "Joshua, this is not a toy. It's a very expensive piece of equipment. Please do not touch anything!" he shouted. Joshua backed away with a frown weighing on his face. Cindy was filled with anger and pulled Joshua away.

"It's okay, don't listen to Logan." she said, patting his shoulder. Logan snorted at Cindy, giving her this scary glare. "Logan, I don't know what's up with you lately but this new attitude is not my favorite. I know you miss Max as much as we do, but that doesn't give you the right to attack anyone around you. Joshua doesn't know certain things, don't yell at him like that." she complained, crossing her arms. Renee realized how obsessed Logan was becoming. He wanted to get Max so bad that he didn't care what he did to his friends. Cindy on the other hand wasn't helping by arguing with Logan.

"Hey, Cindy, you're not helping by arguing with him." Renee added. "He shouldn't have touched that piece of equipment."

"Who said you can join the club. Just come in here three months ago and now your giving me advice? I wouldn't go there girl." Cindy threatened. Renee laughed.

"Excuse me, I'm not trying to take over anything and give you advice. I was just saying that you need to stop, we need to work together." replied Renee. "Now, come on. Let's get ready, Max hasn't much time left. -i-Corp is a very dangerous place, with many guards and cameras watching the perimeters. If we are going to penetrate their security, we are going to have to enter from this side door." she continued, rolling out a big blue print of the building onto the dark table in front of Cindy and Joshua. Logan had taken out his leg pieces and wheeled himself over to the table in his wheelchair. "Now, as you see, in the far left is an exit entrance into the building. It will automatically sign the alarm if we don't carefully take out the password."

"We're going to enter the building from that fire exit. Hopefully, Max will be in the next couple of doors. Remember, they are powerful and have a lot more weapons than we have." Logan explained. "If anyone sees you, the mission is off, we're done and leave."

"We're getting Max, that's final." Joshua said. "Cause virus bitch is down."

"What about Sara and Alec?" asked Cindy. "Are we going to come over to them for help? As much as I regret saying this, we could use some more help."

Suddenly, Sara and Alec entered the room.

--

Mole walked up to the Council's door and opened. Lilith and Sarge sat at their seats, with fear across their faces.

"It is what we have feared." Lilith snorted. Mole was curious.

"May I ask what's the problem?" he asked. Sarge stood up and frowned.

"X63 and Sierra have been spotted not far outside of Seattle. Before our agent could come back, X62 tore his body apart, sending us this." he said, pushing a closed box towards Mole. "Open it."

Mole opened the box and realized that X63 had torn the Transgenic's head off completely. The smell was horrible and blood was everywhere. Lilith covered her mouth and looked out the window in their home base. She feared that X63 was coming back after what he did to the Council so many months ago. He had torn through all of their security and with his own hands, killed all of the Council. Lilith and Sarge survived the battle and are now what's remaining of the Council.

"We have to take drastic measures. We can not allow X63 to enter our facility again, are you clear?" she asked.

"Yes Ma'am, should I alarm the crew downstairs?" Mole questioned.

"No, I don't want panic, but this is an emergency. We can't have X63 destroying what we have worked for."

--

Logan, Renee, Sara, Alec, Cindy and Joshua all stood in the forest of -i-Corp. They watched as big beaming lights scanned the area for any intruders. Several men walked to perimeter, armed with extreme power. The facility was massive, the walls were made of a strong iron and barbed wire blocked numerous entrance ways. A large fence was standing strong around the whole building; yet another protection technique. Logan wondered how he was going to penetrate this fence without being noticed.

"So, what's your plan of action?" asked Sara. "You think we're just going to jump the fence and not be noticed by -i-Corp's defenses?"

"If you let me think, I might be able to find a way." Logan snapped back, staring at the strong fence ahead. Max was on other side. To Logan, that was his strongest reason why he was doing this. He could remember the night X63 was released from his seal by the Demon Hand. When the seal opened, a massive wave of compressed air blew everyone away. Cindy was knocked out by a hit to the head but Max was taken when everyone was out. Logan could remember seeing a very foggy image of Max being taken away by men in army suits. Asha had contacted Logan a couple of days later and told him that she was away for a couple months with family. This was Logan's time to get Max back.

"Okay, I know Max is a very dear friend to us but is she worth being possibly killed?" asked Alec. "I know that was really mean to say, but I have child coming. I want him to know their parents."

"Would you stop saying it's a boy! I think it's a girl. At least that's what my mystical mother instinct has been telling me." Sara said. Cindy looked at Joshua then back at Sara.

"So, when were you going to tell us about this baby growing inside of you?" she asked, curious.

"Oh, we were going to tell you the first time I found out. It's just that after, you know what happened, we kind of lost contact." Sara admitted. "I hope this changes things, you know, between us all."

Renee looked at Logan and frowned. He wasn't so sure that things were going to stay the way they did before X63 came. The world had totally changed. Things happened between the Council and Logan that started his obsession. "Are you guys ready?" she asked.

"I think so." Joshua said. "Find little fella and leave is the plan."

Meanwhile, General Boyd had been watching Max the whole time, making sure that she wouldn't wake up during her dream state. Jack believed that the most safest way to get to Max was through dream. He didn't want to a damage Sandeman's most prized possession. He also thought that bringing Max to -i-Corp would lure him over to her rescue. Jack would do anything to talk to Sandeman about the future to come.

"It's okay, 452. Your father will soon come in time." he whispered. Suddenly, two men ran into the room and warned Jack about a possible security breach.

"Sir, we believe that 452's friends have entered -i-Corp facilities, do you have anything you want us to do?" one asked. Jack Boyd was curious.

"Kill them all." he said. "We can't let them destroy our plan!"

Logan and friends headed through the hallways, searching for Max's room. Sara had burned through the fence so everyone could enter through the emergency exit door. Logan looked in a window of a door and noticed Max lying down, with General Boyd in the room. He opened the door and pointed the gun to Jack's head. Logan was so filled with rage all he wanted to do was shoot him in the head and be done with him. He also knew that committing a crime like murder would totally gear Max away from him. He knew what was the best thing to do in this situation.

"So, Mr. Cale, long time no talk." he said, trying to ignore the pain of the large gun against his head. "I figured you would come to save 452. She's been a great test-subject. Very intriguing stuff Sandeman created, her DNA is unlike any other I've seen. I would love to further my experiments, but I'm sure you have other plans for me."

Logan was ready to rid of Boyd, but he couldn't. This wasn't the time to kill someone. "Max is not a subject to test, she's a human being like us. I'm sick and tired of hearing you people talk about her as if she were some lab rat. I will not allow for this to happen. You've taken away three months of her life, her family." Logan shouted. "How am I going to let you just walk out of this office knowing that you made many people suffer?"

"Because Logan, you're a good man, unlike me. You don't have the balls to shoot me in the head. If you were going to, you would have already." taunted Boyd, as he lifted his arm and launched it at Logan's face. Flying backwards, Logan landed on top of a table covered in x-rays. General Jack Boyd went to grab the gun that had fallen out of his hands and onto the tiled floor. A silent alarm had sounded and guards were on their way. Alec entered the room with everyone else and they started to untie Max. Meanwhile, Logan and Boyd were fighting to the extreme. A punch strong enough to send Boyd flying came from Logan. Boyd hit against the wall and Logan picked up the gun and once again, aimed.

"Nice try. You should really work on your punches, you punch like a girl." Logan smirked, loading the gun. Alec walked over to Logan and pushed the gun down. He knew that killing Boyd wasn't the right thing to do at the moment. Saving Max was their objection. "I should kill you were you stand."

"Eh, Logan. Don't be doing anything stupid, alright? You know Max wouldn't want this of you. Boyd is a terrible man and he will pay for what he has done, but taking someone's life is not the answer." Alec demanded, taking away the gun. Logan contemplated whether or not just to shoot. Finally, he decided that it wasn't the right thing to do. Renee watched from behind a counter, smiling that Logan chose the right path. Sara entered the room and watched Boyd so the others could get Max out of the machine. Sara hated Jack's guts for what he had done to her those years she was trapped in Tri-tech. They experimented on her until she was weak and couldn't move. Sara could always remember thinking that everyday was her last in that hell.

"I remember you, how could I forget." Jack smiled, staring into Sara's eyes. "It's been a long time. Nice trick placing that distress signal into the X2-bot we created awhile back. Very interesting move on your part. It definitely got you saved from our facility."

"I hated being there, you tortured me every single day." Sara admitted, tearing. "Trust me when I say that you're going to pay for what you've done, big time."

"Interesting, how's that ability working out for you? Must be dangerous to have since your are, what? Three months pregnant?" he asked. "You know, you're dangerous to your own little child. I can help you. I have the right equipment to help your child." Jack promised. He always considered Sara his favorite out of all his experiments. Back in Tri-tech, he documented everything there was to know about Sara.

"Keep my baby out of this, you bastard!" She yelled, starting to heat up. Everyone in the room started to feel weak as Sara sucked all the heat out of their bodies. Her anger was extreme and she was ready to kill the man that took so many years away from her. Sara couldn't handle the heat herself, the baby couldn't handle the heat. She started to loose energy, slowly fading. Jack started to laugh, knowing that she couldn't withstand the heat in her system. Sara's nose started to bleed as she dropped onto the floor. Alec charged towards his fiance and tried to get her back to him. He was worried that the baby was loosing its heat-beat, even Sara as well.

"What the hell just happened?" asked Cindy. "It's so damn cold in here now."

Jack tried to make a run for it, Renee caught up and pushed him against the wall once gain. She was too strong and he couldn't move. "Nice arm you got there."

"Oh, you're not going anywhere." she said, handing him to Joshua. Cindy finally finished taking Max out of the machine and carefully lifted her. Logan assisted and everyone headed out of the room. Jack was at gun-point again by Renee, leading them out of the facility.

"I wouldn't go that way if I were you. The alarm sent over a dozen of guards down the left corridor. Take the other route." Jack demanded. Renee was concerned that he might just be lying to them.

"What makes you think that we trust you?" she asked. Cindy rolled her eyes and walked over to Jack. She lifted her hand and smacked him across the face.

"Don't be messing around with me, bitch. Tell us where the right way to go is or I'm gonna have to take you out brother." she threatened, embracing her ghetto deep inside. "I ain't lying."

Renee and Logan smiled.

"She's a hair puller." Logan admitted. Joshua giggled.

"Heh, hair puller."

Jack smirked and pointed to the left, where he recently told them was the wrong way. They could hear guards heading down the hallway and they took the staircase down to the bottom level. Alec carried Sara in his arms, as Logan and Cindy carried Max out of the building. Guards began to shoot at Renee and she shot two in the head, clearing the path for the weak. Everyone left the perimeter safely and headed towards home.

--

Two hours later, Logan had still been watching over Max, waiting for the very moment she woke up. He had wrapped her in warm blankets and had been changed into cleaner clothes. He hadn't seen her beautiful face in months and it was even more brilliant than last. For months, he had been obsessed with getting her back with him. Renee was a big help in getting Logan back, he owed her big time. Renee entered and sat beside Logan as he watched Max sleep.

"How's she doing?" Renee questioned, leaning on his shoulder after a long days work. Logan didn't let his eyes loose sight of her.

"I've been monitoring her heart beat for the past hour and everything seems to be fine. I contacted Beverly Shankar, she told me that Max should be fine. She's going to come in the morning to check on her." Logan said. "How's Sara doing? Is the baby alright?"

"Everything is fine since I've last heard. Linsay took General Boyd into custody once again and he is now locked up in his original cell. I think he's going to be there for good now. I'm going to go get some food, want anything?" asked Renee.

"No thanks, I'm just going to stay here with Max if that's okay." he said, caressing his lovers forehead. Renee smiled.

"Of course." she replied, leaving the apartment. It was just Logan and Max, safe together. He look her into those closed eyes and started to tear for all his emotions started to resurface.

"I missed you so much, Max. I've wondered if you were ever going to return. Since he got rid of the virus Manticore gave you, I thought that was the start of our relationship. Once X63 was released and you disappeared off the face of the earth, I figured that was the end. I did a couple of bad things while you were gone which I know was wrong. I know I can't change back time. When I had hope that you were still alive, I joined the Council. I began to use all their supplies to locate you. After so many days of searching, I found out about -i-Corp. The leader of the Council found out and banned me from Terminal City after I abused our agreements." Logan admitted, kissing her forehead. While he was talking, Max started to move. Logan pulled her up and was over-filled with joy.

"Max! Are you okay?" he asked, hugging her. Max smiled and opened her eyes for the first time in three months to look at Logan. She didn't even have the time to kiss him back. She opened her eyes to realize that she was back in hell, Seattle. Three months gone and all she could think about was her family and what Celia said to her before she killed her.

"Honey, what is it?" Logan asked again. Max frowned.

"My mother, we need to find her, now."

To be Continued.........

Next Time on Dark Angel,

Max is back and ready to kick ass. She confronts the Council and convinces that there are more important things to deal with. Another problem approaches once more, Max's least favorite friend, Heat. As Sara and Alec get ready to tell everyone that they are getting married, her abilities over-load and threaten both the lives of Sara and her baby. Only one person knows how to stop Sara's mysterious gift, General Jack Boyd.

An All New Dark Angel, Coming Soon.

**APPEARANCES**

Max

Logan

Cindy

Alec

Sara

Joshua

SPG (Special Guest)

Erinn McNeil

Renee Hart

Marcus Reed (First Appearance)

Linsay Gomez

Mole

General Jack Boyd

Richardo Santos

District Attorney Gordon

Lilith

Sarge


	3. Episode 3: Heat Wave

**Readers Note: **Yeah, I made it past those two episodes with my sanity still in tact. I was thinking I was going to loose it with all the new and mysterious story lines that only pop more questions into the readers head. Hey, I love to mess with you people; it's my job to entertain by borrowing the toys of James Cameron. I hope you like this next episode, a lot on Sara and her past. I hope you like her character as much as I do writing her. I want to give her more airtime if you will, and if you look at appearances, you can see that I added her as one of the main characters instead of being a special guest like Erinn still is. I love writing episodes about a character's past, revealing who they really were and secrets they may have been hiding. Also, Max won't be meeting the Council this episode, I decided to change that for another date. Okay, enjoy, enough of my talking....

**DARK ANGEL**

**The Complete Fourth Season**

Episode 3

"Heat Wave"

* * *

**Previously on Dark Angel,**

After awakening mysteriously in -i-Corp with her friends by her side, Max has many questions. Together once more, Logan and Max have no time to be together when the search for her lost mother had started. Sara learns that she can't handle her fire starting abilities that could ultimately destroy the lives of herself and her baby. Sierra and X63's whereabouts are unknown. Terminal City has created a group called the "Council", who rules over anyone of the transgenic brethren that may threaten the existence of Freak Nation that was lead by Max.

* * *

Max viewed the broken world through the view of her window in the apartment. She slowly sipped a hot cup of coffee, reflecting on the three months taken away from her. -i-Corp had risen from the ashes of the Breeding Cult, Ames so failed to complete. It brought a smile to her face that he was finally gone but she couldn't stop thinking about what Celia had said to her before her death. Max couldn't help but think that her mother was alive somewhere in the world. For years, more than she could count, her mother was the main topic in her mind. To finally meet the person who created her would be a blessing. Sandeman was another story, he had messed with her life so many times that Max didn't think she could ever forgive him. She's living this life, always on the run, because of him.

Original Cindy walked over beside her, sipping a cup herself. She looked at her Boo, then back at the raining day, as usual. "You know, the sun has come out more often since you've been back. These days seem to past by faster."

"Cindy, I've been out of -i-Corp for a week now and I still feel like something's missing. It's hard to explain but I feel as though I'm missing apart of me that let's me live on after something happens. I don't know, I'm kind of distracted, can you tell?" Max questioned with a worried look upon her face.

"Boo, you've been fine to me." she lied. "Well, yes, you've seemed to be acting a little strange since you have come back from that -i-Corp bitch. It's normal, don't be wasting your time worrying about them sluts, you've got cover. Logan and Renee are here to protect you and you know I can do a little ass kicking myself these days. I've been training." Cindy smiled, looking out the window.

"Renee, what's her deal?" asked Max. "She seems nice. Logan wouldn't, I mean, of course he wouldn't. I can't believe I'm thinking that. It would be like the whole Asha thing over again. She pretended she was pregnant, moves into his apartment to start a fake family all too break us apart. A present from Celia and Ames. Listen to me, I can't stop thinking about how Logan might betray what we have. Wait, what we use to have, right? Does he still consider us as a couple? Now, that the virus is gone, I would think we could continue off from where we left."

Cindy rolled her eyes. "Girl, even if that Renee wanted to get with your boy, she doesn't have a chance. While you were gone, he totally was obsessed with getting you back to us. He loves you, Max. Don't doubt what you guys share, cause it's stronger than anything I've seen." she explained. "Now, that's love."

Max smiled and her skin started to slightly shade red, showing signs of blushing. She bit her lip and turned to face her friend. "So, you little vixen, a little birdy whispered something to me about your relationship with Linsay. So, How's it going? Have you, you know?" Max asked, smiling widely. Cindy punched her in the shoulder and stretched her smile as well.

"You know me, Boo. I try." she said, starting to laugh. "When the restaurant opened, Linsay was a big help setting it up and I gave her a part time job. She still works at the office, replacing Tanedra. Your hair really grew when you were asleep for all those months, heh." Cindy pointed out, walking to the kitchen and placing her cup on the breakfast bar. Max loved how Original Cindy had decorated their apartment while she was gone.

"How did you get all the money to get this stuff. The place looks great." said Max, feeling the smooth counter-top. Cindy shrugged her shoulders.

"Remember, Boo? I don't pay for anything." she said, opening the fridge. "You know, you should go see Joshua. For the longest time, he has been grieving your disappearance. He really looks up to you."

"I totally forgot, I couldn't believe that! Gotta blaze." Max shouted, running out of the door like the speed of light. Meanwhile, Sara walked into the apartment and carried her heavy self over to the couch. Her hair had grown even longer since before she got pregnant, reaching down her back. Cindy crossed her arms and handed Sara a juice-box, sitting next to her.

"What's on your mind, girl?" she asked, relaxing her leg over another. Sara frowned, twiddling her thumbs on top of her three-month belly.

"I've been arguing with Alec a lot lately. Nothing really important but very silly issues. This baby is coming into a world that I'm afraid I can't protect them from. With X63 alive and General Boyd looking for test subjects, she's not safe." Sara explained. Cindy creased her forehead as Linsay walked into the apartment, waving hello.

"She?" Cindy challenged. "What makes you so sure that your baby is going to be a girl?"

"I just know. I can't really explain." said Sara, starting to burn up. She kept adjusting herself, feeling like a heat wave just attacked. "Whew, do you feel that? Is it just me or is it really hot in here?"

Cindy started to notice that blood began to trickle down her nose. She ran to the phone and started to dial as Sara started to bleed more.

**DARK ANGEL**

Logan and Original Cindy watched as Beverly Shankar shinned the flashlight up and down onto Sara's beautiful eyes. For months now, Sara had been suffering this condition that Manticore had given her and it only seemed to worsen. Logan had called Doctor Beverly Shankar to assist them in this mysterious case that fell upon them. Beverly knew everything about the Transgenic's and how their blood flew. "Well, I don't see anything different. All the signs are clear that you are in fact almost four months pregnant. But to make sure and to make you comfortable, I will run some more tests on your blood work." she said, turning to face Logan in secret. She grabbed her flip-board and started to right things down on Sara's private own file.

"So, is there anything to worry about?" Logan asked. Beverly shook her head.

"Can't be sure at this moment. Like I said, the tests that I am running should tell me what I need to know."

"And that would be what, exactly?" challenged Logan. Beverly turned her head to get a glance at Sara and the baby that was growing inside of her, then back at Logan with lost eyes.

"Well, if I'm right, it should reveal signs of positive brain flows from the baby. At this moment, Logan. The facts are limited, so I would go home and rest. Oh and I received your calls awhile back." Beverly added. "Sorry I couldn't answer them in time. I was in Africa to take care of some families during my stay. Was it important?"

"Oh no, it's totally fine now. Max's Manticore virus had been cured by this unknown agent that made me curious. So far it has worked like a charm." Logan explained. "Thank you for coming this way to help us. We really appreciate it, Beverly."

"You're most welcome. How are your legs doing, may I ask?" questioned Shankar. "Doing much better I see."

"Well, actually yes. The paralyze-effect had seemed to disappear after injecting some canine DNA into my system." he laughed. Beverly smiled and walked back over to Sara and Cindy.

"Okay, so I'm going to ask you to lye down on this little, white table here. When I press this red button, you will enter that dome shaped tube. There, I will be able to take some pictures and monitor your heat waves. If what Logan says is true that you can create fire, we need to see if it's harming the baby in any way." Beverly explained, walking over to this giant control system, where a large red button was ready to be pushed. Sara hesitated and entered the dome once Beverly pressed the button. She waited patiently for the lights to begin to flash. Suddenly, the pain started again. The burning was so intense, killing her inside. She started to bleed from the nose once more as Beverly watched from her heat scanner. Tones of red-hot images came from inside of Sara causing her to scream. Beverly could notice that her pain was coming from where the baby was growing.

"What's happening?" shouted Cindy. Beverly took a couple more photos while Sara was in the dome. She was trying to wrap finger around what was happening to Sara during these attacks in her system. She signaled Logan to view the photos that were in printing.

"See these colors that seem to circle around the fetus. If I'm correct, the baby has inherited Sara's ability to create fire. For some reason, the genetic code has transferred to her offspring. That is what's causing the bleeding and high temperatures. I don't want to suggest this but, it's my job to allow the patient think on her own behave." said Beverly before Alec barged into the room. He ran over to Sara and pulled her out of the dome to see if she's okay.

"I came as fast as I could after Max told me about the news. She wanted to be here, but she came across something very important. How's the baby?" he asked. "Is there wrong with my child?"

Beverly didn't know what to say and Logan frowned. "Alec, the fetus has inherited the same ability as

Sara. The baby absorbs heat in her surroundings, which explains why she feels cases of extreme heat in a sitting. Then, the baby uses the heat to generate a little flame that is penetrating through Sara's vital organs. I know this is tough to hear but there's a possibility that we might have to remove the fetus before any growth continues." Beverly frowned, looking at Sara and Alec. "I'll give you sometime to think."

Sara started to tear, looking at Logan and Cindy. She didn't know what she was going to do. Of course she wasn't going to kill her baby. If Sara keeps the baby in her, the fire could end up ultimately killing her in the end. Sara was ready to risk sacrificing herself to give birth to this baby. A baby that was going to be more important to others than she every imagined.

--

Marcus Reed parked his black vehicle in the underground parking garage, pressing the button to lock his car. Everyday, he lived the same routine. It wasn't his favorite time of the day to walk down the dark, dense hallways to get to the elevator that would bring him up to the upper-level. After thoroughly thinking about it during his spare time, he came to the conclusion that parking garages are not good news. His hair was in a mess and his glasses were loosing their tarnish. Since the pulse exploded at the top of America, it was hard finding a good pair of glasses. Doctors asked for big money to get you a good pair of prescription glasses. He was wearing a beige dress coat and dark jeans beneath. Once reaching the elevator, he pressed the number three on the control panel and the doors were about to shut when a hand came in between. Both doors stretched open and Marcus watched curiously as they opened to reveal someone on the other side. He clutched the leather handle of his briefcase when Erinn stood beside him in the elevator.

She was wearing a beautiful blouse and tight jeans with her hair tied back. She relieved any sign of emotion on her face, not even looking at Marcus who was beside her. "Marcus Reed, I need to speak to you about something." she said, clearing her throat. Marcus rolled his eyes, pressing the button to stop the elevator.

"I told you, I have nothing to tell. That story was given to me thoroughly from this contact. I'm not sure exactly who the person was. I don't even have a number or an address." he complained. "Please, can I just get to work. I'm already late as it is?"

Erinn smiled. "You know, I'm not letting you of my sight until I find out who that contact was. This is a very important situation Mr. Reed and many lives depend on this. I'll see you again." she said, leaving the elevator after pressing the door open. Marcus watched as Erinn disappeared and he exhaled quickly. Once reaching the top floor, a woman greeted him at the top. She had dark maroon hair and fair, pale skin. Upon her beautiful bone structure was strokes of red blush. Her name was Lauren, Marcus's fiance; his other half. He wrapped his embracing arms around her small frame, distracted. Lauren sensed something wrong and slowly pushed his arms off.

"What's wrong, you seem tense?" Lauren challenged. "Anything you want to tell me?"

"No, nothing important. I was just thinking about my next story."

"About the recent deaths?" she asked, pulling out pictures that the police had taken that leaked onto the news. Marcus creased his forehead in confusion and grabbed the paper out of her hands. Scanning them quickly, the people carried the same blood type as the others from his article.

"When did these happen?" Marcus asked, pursing his lips together. Lauren shook her head, smiling.

"All I know is that these deaths were recent. Are you sure you're okay? You seem, I don't know, different."

Marcus didn't answer at first, still looking at the photos. "What? Oh, no, I'm fine. Don't worry about me. I thought someone had to write the next article on food poisoning?" he laughed. Lauren rolled her eyes and readjusted her stance.

"Yes, but your story is a lot more interesting." she frowned, leaving the conversation and entering her cuticle. Marcus looked at the pictures again and back at his fiance.

"Oh, its a lot more interesting indeed." he whispered, leaving the lobby.

--

Max started to shake, trying to keep that itch locked away. Every time Heat attacked her, it was hell. She had to learn to control that demon that waited every year to break free. Suddenly, she heard the front door opening. Max ran to the living room, hoping it was Cindy. She wanted to be distracted for the time being, as she suffered this bitch. Once entering the living room, to her surprise, Logan stood there, placing bags of food on the counter.

"Where's Cindy!" she shouted in anger. Logan jumped back, startled from the screaming woman in the apartment.

"Max, are you okay?" he asked, walking closer to her. He stretched out his arms to hug her tight, but she moved back. "Max?"

"Sorry, Logan. I don't think you want to come anywhere close to me. This time of the year isn't the best for me." Max admitted, trying to change the subject. "How's Sara doing?"

Logan smiled and forgot about the hug, making Max smile. "Well, it doesn't look good. Beverly is trying to come up with ways to rid of the problem but the chances seem slim. Sara's baby has inherited the fire ability and is essentially using it while in her. Sara's dying internally and the only option is to have an abortion for the baby grows anymore." he explained.

Max tried to feel sorry for Sara, but Heat was winning. In her mind, there seemed to be some serious heat wave coming through Seattle. She quickly slammed herself against Logan and started to kiss him. Logan hit her against a wall and tried to get her attention. "Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked. Max looked into his eyes and smiled.

"Yes." she whispered, kissing him again. This time, he didn't fight.

--

Sara sat, awaiting for her results from the other various tests that Beverly was doing to her. The baby had settled down and the pain had slowly gone away. She couldn't get this one thought out of her head about the time she was in Tri-tech. She could remember when they tied her down onto this steel table and General Boyd would do numerous experiments on her that would depict whether she had the strength. She never knew what that meant during her days in Tri-tech. What strength? And for what, exactly?

There was this one night she could remember clearly. Sara had a little window in her cell that she would stare out of during the night. The beautiful light that shone down from the stars above always mesmerized her. Sara knew that one day she was going to be saved from that horrible place. In Manticore, her days were always felt longer than usual. Everyday felt like a blessing that she was still alive. Sara wasn't like the other X5's. Growing up in the same department, they had each other to depend on. Sara was different from Max and the others and she didn't know why. Boyd would always mention things that made Sara uncomfortable. Sara's past was still a little foggy for her liking and she believed that it would come in time.

"I know this is really tough. The decision that you have to make is something that someone should never have to make." Alec said, touching her shoulder gently.

"I know what you're going to say and I'm never getting rid of my baby. Alec, this baby is life that we created. I don't want to give that up." explained Sara. "Please, don't try to take my baby away from me."

"Sara, that baby is going to kill you! Can't you see that you're important to all of us."

"So, you're saying that this baby is less important?" she asked. Alec shook his head.

"I'm not saying that at all. We need you to think about the future. The future you will not have if you keep this baby. It's not too late to have the abortion now." Alec continued. Sara stood up.

"I'm not killing my baby!" she yelled. "And I'm not staying here anymore." she proclaimed. Beverly stood up with Original Cindy and tried to sit Sara down.

"You should be resting, Sara." suggested Beverly, grabbing her arm. Sara moved away and walked towards the door.

"I'm fine!" she shouted, starting to feel dizzy. "I-I-I'm just going to go home and rest for a b-bit." she said, when suddenly blood started to drip down from her nose and tear from her eyes. She rolled her eyes back and slumped to the floor. Alec ran over to her to see if she was okay. She started to loose all her blood and her pulse was weakening. Beverly lifted her up with the help of Alec, to bring her onto the table. She started to bleed even more, turning very pale.

"Attach her to the bloodline, hurry!" yelled Beverly.

"What's happening to her?" asked Cindy. "Is she going to be okay?"

"We'll see. The baby is destroying her from the inside. We need to stabilize her heartbeat and get some blood into her system." she said, running around the lab to grab some items. Alec frowned and got everyone's attention.

"I think I know who can stop

this." he said, leaving the hospital room.

--

Alec approached the District Attorney's office, front doors. The District Attorney walked up to him and crossed her arms. "What exactly do you want to ask of General Jack Boyd?" he asked.

"He has something I need, now." Alec demanded. Gordon unlocked the door and let Alec walk into the holding room, where General Boyd stood behind iron bars. He walked up to Alec and smiled.

"Well what do I owe for your company?" he asked. "Last time we met, you were holding 493 in your arms. Do you find it odd how Sara is a designated number just before you?" he challenged.

"I'm not here to socialize." Alec snorted.

"Get out of my cell!" Boyd shouted. "Or something just might have to happen."

"Threatening me now? I'm sorry if I'm interrupting your solitary confinement, you seem very busy." added Alec. Boyd laughed and sat back down on the floor.

"So, why does a Manticore project like you come here to speak to me? It's about Sara, isn't it? I knew one day you would be crawling down here to ask me for a favor. The baby must be eating away through her body." Jack thought. "And you figured, what? That I was going to be able to help you out?"

"Well, since you claim to know Sara so much." said Alec.

"Kind of tricky when I'm stuck behind these cool bars." Jack sarcastically noted. Alec rolled his eyes.

"Just tell me here." Alec added. "We have no time to think. I need to know the solution now."

"It's more complicated then just a solution. We're trying to shut down Sara's ability to create fire. There are many procedures involved." Boyd explained, leaning on the iron bars of his jail cell. Alec wasn't buying anything he was saying. There had to be another way to stop the burning.

"There's got to be another way!" Alec shouted.

"Well, there's one more way."

--

Sara swallowed the pill that Alec had given her and everyone waited for the affects. Beverly watched from the camera, watching closely her heat waves. Slowly, they started to fade away. Sara could notice that the pain was lessening and the pill was working. "Are you okay?" he asked. Sara nodded her head.

"How did you do that?" asked Sara. "Who gave you that pill?"

"Don't worry about that now." Alec said, hugging Sara. Beverly examined the pills that Alec got for Sara. She noticed that there were extreme amounts of proteins that counter act the affects of heat. For some time now, Sara will be deprived from her fire abilities. At least she gets to keep her baby and create a family. Cindy walked over to Beverly as she started to pack all her equipment away.

"So, what's in it for the amazing Beverly Shankar now?" she asked, smiling. Beverly smiled and looked at Sara and Alec, hugging.

"Now, that my work is done here. I think I'm going to go home and rest for a week. I'm going back to Africa next week, so I need to be prepared. Remember, if you guys need anymore assistance, just give me a ring." she said, leaving the room.

--

Original Cindy got home and noticed all the furniture everywhere. Her first thought was that someone had broken into the apartment. She ran to the kitchen and into Max's room. She noticed the two lovebirds sleeping in Max's bed. Finally, they got it on. Cindy smiled and walked away. Of course Max was sleeping, after all that playing around, Cindy would have crashed instantly as well. Meanwhile, at the District Attorney's office, General Boyd was biting his nails, trying to past time.

The night was always the slowest time of day for him. He never could really sleep in a holding cell. Suddenly, a loud noise came from the other hallway. He noticed someone walking towards his cell. His eyes widened and he smiled. Sierra Lakefield pressed her face against the bars and crossed her arms.

"How many times do I have to keep freeing you?" she asked, smiling.

To be continued.............

Next Time on Dark Angel,

Original Cindy's past comes into play when her mother comes to visit after years of not seeing each other. Old and new enemies appear when Sierra and X63 continue their reign of terror upon Seattle, putting the lives of the rare blood type in danger. Max finally confronts the Council, noticing that she must face the biggest personal challenge of her life.

An All-New Dark Angel, Coming Soon.

**APPEARANCES**

Max

Logan

Cindy

Alec

Sara

SPG (Special Guest)

Erinn McNeil

Sierra Lakefield (return)

Marcus Reed

Lauren (First Appearance)

Linsay Gomez

General Jack Boyd

Beverly Shankar (guest Star cameo)

District Attorney Gordon


	4. Episode 4: Mother Said

**Readers Note: **First of all, sorry everyone for the longest wait ever! ~ I needed a little break so I can work on very important things. I have been struggling with writing this episode only because I needed to really plan out season four and where its going in the future. I have the plans ready for the characters and the newest additions. I found after planning this season, that this will probably be the darkest season. All these episodes have this eerie sense; even I get the creeps. Also, I've added a new realm of story to writer about that will hopefully fall together in the final season of Dark Angel. Thanks for the support! :D

**DARK ANGEL**

**The Complete Fourth Season**

Episode 4

"Mother Said"

* * *

**Previously on Dark Angel,**

After awakening mysteriously in -i-Corp with her friends by her side, Max has many questions. Together once more, Logan and Max have no time to be together when the search for her lost mother had started. Sara learns that she can't handle her fire starting abilities that could ultimately destroy the lives of herself and her baby. Sierra and X63's whereabouts are unknown. Terminal City has created a group called the "Council", who rules over anyone of the transgenic brethren that may threaten the existence of Freak Nation that was lead by Max.

* * *

**Seattle, Washington 2009**

Cynthia "Original Cindy" McEachin was only nine years old when the pulse hit. On June 1, 2009, a group of terrorists detonate an electromagnetic pulse weapon 80 miles in the atmosphere over the United States of America, which destroys the vast majority of computer and communication systems. When the Pulse hit, every computer and communications system in America was damaged and all digital information was instantly erased, effectively throwing the country into utter chaos. Hours after the electricity went down, everyone in the country panicked when it was realized that there was no immediate solution to the problem, and many were reduced to almost barbaric methods to ensure their survival. One example of such actions were found in Cape Haven. Another effect of The Pulse was bankruptcy. Since most American-based banks used computers to monitor transactions, the database was wiped clean and a lot of people suddenly suffered from poverty. America basically went from super-power to third-world country in a matter of days.

Chaos was an understatement! The world as everyone knew it changed that night when the Pulse hit over the United States. Cindy was sitting on her bed, trying to block the noise of her parents fighting. Every night she suffered listening to her parents argue and attack each other. Cindy loved her mother and she didn't want to see her get hurt. Her father on the other hand, hated his family and often told Cindy that she was a "mistake". Jocelyn McEachin gave birth to Cynthia in the year of 2000. She grew up in a rough family as well and she left into the world to change the mistakes her mother did. Following in her footsteps, Cindy's mother, Jocelyn married a man named Vincent McEachin who was later charged for assault. She found the error in her ways when she found Cindy on the floor with a big purple bruise across her face.

Original Cindy sat on her bed, watching as chaos took over Seattle. People were screaming and running down the streets in fear. Rumors about the science facility, Manticore started spread but mostly labeled a myth. Cindy lit a small wax candle she had made for her mom of mothers day. The candle brightened her room aglow as she sat on her bed, waiting for the calm. They had just moved to Seattle a couple of months ago to make a living in the new computer company downtown. Her father was given a job by the one and only, Harold Lennings. Back in the day, he was a big business man and made lots of money scamming other people. The night before the Pulse hit, her father was fired, leaving them at the break of being poor. Cindy continued to ponder on her bed, while watching the world fall before her eyes. She knew that one day, she was going to escape this hell and live a normal life. She looked into the dark, sapphire sky and wished upon a shooting star that one day she would be saved.

**Present Day: Seattle, Washington**

Original Cindy shook the memory out of head while she was cleaning the tables in her restaurant. She had redecorated the restaurant to her liking; made it have more of a comfortable feeling. Linsay had helped her pick out some of the colors for the walls and furniture. Cindy always admired her girlfriends tastes in everything. Her clothes were always wonderful and her certain ability to assemble the perfect room could be done in seconds. The walls in her restaurant were of a ruby red and she had black, leather furniture. Since she had redone it, more customers have been appearing, bringing in more profit. Joshua was cleaning the tiled floor in the kitchen, trying to make it pristine. Original Cindy walked over to him and crossed her arms, leaning against the wall. "You know, Boo. You don't have to make it spotless. Some dirt just doesn't disappear." she said. Joshua looked up, studying her facial expression. He laughed and dropped the dirty rag onto the floor. Suddenly, dark water split all over the white tile, making it dirty again. Cindy started to laugh and Joshua began to clean again.

"I'm going to make it pristine for Original Cindy." he said, scrubbing away. Linsay entered the restaurant with a box in her hands.

"I'm barring gifts, my young maiden." Linsay said, placing the box on the counter. She placed a light kiss on Cindy's lips and she opened the box to show her the presents.

"What's in there, something dead?" she laughed, looking over to cardboard flaps to reveal some rare meats. She started jump for joy to see all the beef and chicken she had gotten for her girl.

"Do you like?" asked Linsay.

"Do I like?" she mimicked. "of course I do silly!" she said, hugging Linsay. "Where did you get these? Wait, don't tell me. I hope you didn't hunt these down yourself."

"It took me awhile but I got good aim near the end." Linsay laughed, joking around with Cindy. She pulled out all the food and placed it into the nearest fridge. The white christmas lights that were hung across the restaurant provided this lovely glow during the night. Also, giving the location its warmth was a plus. Cindy investited all her profitable earnings to make her baby the spice it needed in the food and the furniture to create a better space. Original Cindy had let her hair grow out down to the middle of her back. Linsay always loved hair that she could tuck during cuddling.

"Max and Logan have been getting it up last night." Cindy said, smiling. "I'm so happy for them. I can't even remember the amount of years they circled around each other, waiting for the right time."

Linsay smiled and watched as Renee walked into the restaurant with a curious look across her face. She was wearing a cute jean jacket with mini pockets and dark jeans. She walked past some customers and headed towards the other girls.

"Hello, girls. I was wondering if you guys have seen Logan anywhere? There's an Eyes Only mission that needs to be complete today. It's not normal for Logan to be late for these kind of things. I'm starting to worry." Renee said, biting her nail.

"Girl, chill the hell down, foo. Logan is living it up with my Boo. Don't worry, I'm sure he'll be here very soon. They just had some catching up to do is all." said Cindy. The world of Logan and Max had changed and Heat penetrated the boundaries. She guessed that it was a go time for Heat to attack. Sara and Alec were staying in for the day, she was still in a lot of pain. The pills worked, but it costed a pretty penny to keep up the proscription. Original Cindy felt sorry for Sara and her condition. It' got to be tough to have an ability that you can't control. Night was falling upon Seattle and darkness was beginning its turn. Since the humans had taken back Seattle as their own, the city was much more alive then usual. Towering buildings, lit with brilliant colors, stood before civilians as they walked down the narrow streets. Stars peaked through the thick, rainy clouds, shining down. The moon was a brilliant light, brightening the streets aglow. The city lights were beauty to the viewer's eyes. One thing that Seattle was known for, even though the Pulse hit, was the beautiful light at night. Just down the street from Cindy's restaurant, a dome shaped building had the word, "Electronics" across in a sparking neon red sign.

She often thought that her restaurant was in a wonder location. Just down the street, there was a bank that beamed glorious emerald down onto darkened alleyways. The sounds of people talking and laughing, enjoying themselves filled the air. Close-by was a large bar where many of the people would hang out at during a Friday night. It was packed and loud. Even though trouble seems to find its way into this large city, Original Cindy still loved Seattle. This to her was home. After the remaining customer paid and left the restaurant, Original Cindy closed up. She flipped the open sign to reveal a "closed" on the back. She stepped outside and with all her strength, pulled an iron gate across and locked it shut. There was lot of crime during the night, especially since the feud between the people and the District Attorney. The Ordinaries found that the decision the District Attorney made to let all Transgenic have free will in Terminal City struck them. There were mixed feelings about the situation and ever since then, the crime rate increased. These days, the authority around here seemed to deplete. After closing, Linsay walked to the back and congratulated Joshua for his fabulous cleaning job. "Good job, Joshua!" she said cheerfully. Original Cindy smiled and turned off some lights.

"I'm ready to go home and get some sleep, boo." She said, stretching. Linsay hugged her and looked at the back door, curious. Original Cindy creased her forehead and turned around to face a familiar face.

"Cynthia, I've waited many years for this." A woman said. Cindy started to tear, noticing that her mother was standing before her, smiling.

**DARK ANGEL**

Night slowly disappeared and the sun rose from the depths; kissing the horizon with sherbet hues of oranges, yellows and reds. Max stretched as she awoke from her deep slumber. It wasn't normal for her to sleep at all. Logan had absorbed all her time during the night and she was exhausted. Catching up for all those months that they had missed was worth while. Max hadn't felt that way in ages. Logan wrapped his arm around her shoulders and stared at the ceiling. He smiled and looked over to his girl, who was covered her chest. "That was, I mean, wow." she said, gasping for air. Logan laughed and lifted the sheets to glance at his male part still in tact.

"Yes, still got it." he smiled, looking back up at the ceiling fan that continuously turned around and around. A gentle cool air caressed them from above, sending chills down Max's spine.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked. "I mean, we did just have sex and all."

Logan couldn't think of any words to describe the passion he had for her. So many years waiting for this moment and it finally came, grand-slamming. "I don't know what to think. You were....amazing. Absoultly no words to describe last night." he explained, closing his eyes slowly, kissing her lips. Meanwhile, a woman sat on a silver chair in some old factory just outside of Seattle, watching them through a camera. Asha was back, watching everything that happened in Max's house. She was a little bit different from the last time they saw her three months ago. -i-Corp had found Asha and shot her in the head; direct orders by General Jack Boyd. Asha had died and they brought her body to the facility for a project. It took three months for Jack to create something he was very proud of. With a couple screws there and a few bolts tightened, he created Asha-bot. He used her body parts to construct a similar spy-bot like the one he sent after Original Cindy a year ago. Asha-bot watched the TV screen as Max and Logan kissed passionately. She smiled and dialed on the phone.

"I'm watching and awaiting orders." she said in a stiff voice. Suddenly, a little red light begain to flash around her left iris.

--

Original Cindy sat in her restaurant with her mother sitting in front. She couldn't even speak one word to that woman. All she did was pretend to be the mother she wasn't. Her hair was the same way she always kept; long with red beneath. Her mother always said that it always worked in your favour when you keep yourself decent. Jocelyn's fingers interlaced as she stared deep into her daughters eyes. "You're beautiful, Cynthia." she said, smiling. Cindy didn't even want hear the words she spoke. Her mother brought back memories that Cindy took years to put behind her.

"What are you doing here?" Cindy asked. "Last thing I heard on the street, you were moving to New York."

"Is that really the appropiate way to start a conversation with your mother?" Jocelyn challenged, "I taught you differently, Cynthia."

"Don't call me Cynthia, I go by Original Cindy. Cynthia no longer lives here." Cindy replied. Jocelyn smiled.

"When did you pick up that silly habit?"

"bout the time you gave up on being a mother." Cindy snapped, crossing her arms. "You know, I have to open the restaurant. I don't want to loose any customers."

Jocelyn stood up, blocking her daughter from moving any further. "Curious, I'm surprised that you chose cooking as your career choice. I figured you would want to pursue occupations within the lines of hair styling and make-up. I remember you use to put on mommy's make-up and play dress up. I would always tell you to not play with my beauty products because they tested them on animals. Ever since then, I haven't touched animal tested products; going natural."

"You don't know your own daughter. Now if you can excuse me-" Cindy snorted, brushing past her mothers shoulders. Linsay entered the restaurant from the back door and watched as Original Cindy opened the front door to let customers into the store for food.

--

Max had gotten dressed and drove her bike into the Human World. The District Attorney wanted her to come to the office and pick up some of her stuff she left there. Missing for three months, she lost her job and without Tanedra having her back, it was hard to convince Gordon that she was worthy to receive her job back. Tanedra was nowhere to be found in America. Logan had told her that Tanedra was somewhere, searching down Sierra Lakefield. She walked up to the big building and walked up the stone steps and entered. Erinn was at her desk as usual, filing reports in her cabinet. Max hasn't seen Erinn in months and she couldn't wait to talk to her. Three months gone and so many things to catch up on. Max wanted to know about Protectors and why they were so fascinated with Transgenic Brethren.

She walked up to Erinn's desk and smiled. Erinn looked up at her assigned Transgenic and stood up. "Where have you been?" she asked, crossing her arms. Max smiled and watched as District Attorney Gordon approached them. Before she continued, Gordon leaned against Erinn's desk and glared at Max.

"Mrs. Max, you've been missing for some time now. Let me guess, three months?" he asked. Max smiled.

"A girl's gotta have a life sir. Besides, you wouldn't want to know why I was missing and where I was." she said. The District Attorney began to chuckle.

"Try me," he replied "I have time. My court hearing doesn't start for another hour."

Max glanced over at Erinn and smiled.

"Well, over the three months I was kidnapped by sinister company named -i-Corp, who specializes in constructing evil robotic bitches who hate Transgenics. My friends all teamed up and saved my ass before they continued to test me with their newest machine that altered my dream and placed me into an alternate reality." she explained, smiling. The District Attorney started to laugh out loud.

"Yay, okay then. I need you to pack up your stuff, Max. You know the rules." he said, leaving the room. Erinn watched as he left her sight and turned back to Max.

"Max, I need to talk to you. When you were gone, I found out some reliable research about X63. I need to introduce to you a reporter for the New World Weekly. Marcus Reed has some answers to X63 and what keeps him moving. We all know that he can only function with fuel." Erinn explained.

"So he needs to park himself at a gas station and pump up to keep moving?" Max challenged. Erinn shook her head.

"He feeds on a certain type of blood to continue forward on his 'destiny'." she said.

--

Sierra Lakefield walked back and forth with her high-heels clinging against the stone floor. Dampened stone walls surrounded her as she crossed her arms. Sounds of crawling rats echoed endlessly in the underground tunnels of Seattle. It had taken Sierra over twenty minutes to find her way down the sub-levels. Down in the underground tunnels, every turn had to be closely examined. It was very easy to get lost. On her way to the destination ahead, she had to kill over a dozen transgenics who have lost their mind. For years, these creatures would roam the tunnels and feast on dead carcasses and rodents. Most of all, they loved fresh meat. Sierra entered a dome like room, with the ceiling arched up high.

"Sorry it took me a long time to get here. Those filthy transgenics are everywhere. Luckily enough, I was holding a gun at the time." Sierra said to the darkened figure in the shadows. With his deep and menacing voice, he spoke.

"Did you find me a reliable donor?" he asked, glaring at Sierra with her glowing, green eyes. Sierra smiled.

"Did you think I was just going to let you die?" she challenged. "I do need you."

"Just tell me if you brought me something to feed off of. I've been waiting for so long that I can feel this body starting to shut down. You don't know what it feels like to built into this body. When I don't get that blood, I begin to feel serious pains." X63 said, gripping his stomach. Sierra rolled her eyes and dragged in a young woman. She had black hair and bruises all over her body.

"Did you have to beat her around like that?" he asked. Sierra kicked the girl onto the floor and spat in her face. She started scream and cry at the same time.

"There, is that how you like it?" Sierra asked, walking away from his dinner time. X63 slowly limped over to Ava and struggled to see straight. Sierra observed in the background, remebering his strongest weaknesses. X63 kneeled down on the cool stone and used all his strength to touch her soft arm. Suddenly, Ava began to turn blue. All the blood in her body was quickly draining, leaving her with nothing. She slumped to the floor as her eyes lost their color. X63 was suddenly healed from all his pain now that he had sucked her blood. Ava was dead on the hard ground.

Sierra walked back over to Ava's dead body and touched her neck to find a pulse. "She's cold."

"I feel much better." X63 mummbled. Sierra was lost in thought.

"How do you do that? I know you take their blood, but you do it with just a touch."

"When I was constructed, they gave micropotic needles on my massive hands. With just one touch, the needles begin to drain the blood from the vicitim, feeding my main source." he said, standing up. X63 was a huge walking, mutated, robotic, demonic looking beast. Have his face was similar to -i-Corp's X2-bot's. His eyes were a glowing green; the same substance that made Joshua go crazy.

"We need to get back to the plan." he said, walking over Ava's dead body. Sierra followed behind.

--

Renee Hart knocked on Logan's apartment door and entered. She had been worried about him for some time now. He had been distracted with Max being back from -i-Corp. They were on a close lead finding more information about her parents death. She didn't want to loose anything that would help her take down -i-Corp. "Logan, are you home?" she asked, walking around the room. There was no sign of Logan and she was starting to really get worried.

As walked out of the room, Asha was at the front door. Renee paused and tried to match her face to anyone she knew. "I'm sorry, do I know you?" Renee asked. Asha cocked her head and smiled.

"Renee, Logan talks about you a lot." she replied, turning her head to view her surroundings.

"Oh, Asha, that's right. I heard you were coming back soon. I work with Logan in secret Eyes Only missions. He said you were a really helpful worker of his. I've always wanted to meet the real Eyes Only, but I guess if I was meant to, I will in time." Renee explained. Renee was clueless about who Asha really was. The real Asha was dead and this one was just a poser. She was built by General Boyd to spy on Max and the others. While they were talking, Sara and Alec entered the apartment fighting.

"Alec, I'm not taking the pill. It's making my baby sick, I just know it." she complained, sitting on Logan's couch. Alec sat beside her with the pills in his hand.

"Fine, I give up. Kill your baby!" he yelled, chucking them at her face. Sara started to bleed from her nose and she quickly swallowed the pill. Renee walked over to Sara to comfort her.

"Honey, are you okay?" Renee questioned. "I want you and your baby safe."

Sara smiled and rested her head against the couch. "I'm fine, Renee. Thank you for thinking about me. Alec and I have been arguing about the baby and my health. I know this baby will be healthy and If I die in the process, so be it." Sara said, closing her eyes. Asha watched as the two woman socialized. She was still new being exposed to other human beings. Asha-bot knew for a fact that she wasn't one of them. She was created in a facility that specialized in robotics.

--

Jocelyn reappeared at Cindy's restaurant and watched as her daugther worked hard to earn her money. She wanted to become the mother she never was to her own daughter. Max entered the restaurant, holding a bag of pain killers to give to Cindy. For the past two weeks, Cindy had been experincing strong pains in her head and needed some pills to calm it down.

"Thank you, Boo!" Cindy said, grabbing the bag from her hands. "I needed these so much."

"Are you sure you don't want me to take you to the doctors?" asked Max. "You got some funky head pains going on up in there."

"I'm all good, just getting all stressed. It doesn't help that my mother is here. She won't leave me alone. I mean, I know shes my mother and all, but a little too late missy." Cindy explained, washing the dark counter top. "I just want some peace and quiet for once!" she yelled when suddenly, the restaurant lights shut off. All the customers dead silent, scared. Cindy could hardly see Max; who was right in front of her.

"What's going on?" asked Cindy. Not even one minute passed and Cindy's restaurant door blasted open. Everyone started to jump and scream, running out of the restaurant. Max used her great vision to see who the intruders were. To her surprise, Sierra and X63 were standing, ready for battle. Jocelyn ran over to Cindy, passing all the running people. Meanwhile, Linsay and Joshua hid in the back, not even speaking a word. Linsay decided to use the back door and try and put the lights back on. After fiddling with some wires, she got the lights back on.

"Cynthia, where are you?" her mother asked. Cindy grabbed her mothers arm and pulled her behind the counter. The lights flickered and slowly beamed light upon the restaurant. Max's eyes widened when she saw X63 for the first time. He smiled and examined Max's features.

"So this is 452. The one and only girl who is supposedly going to stop me. I figured you would be a little more butch." X63 snorted, smiling at her. Sierra started laugh.

"Long time no talk, Max." she said, glaring at Cindy and her mother.

"Sierra," Max whispered. "Look what the cat dragged in."

"I missed your cheesey remarks, 452. You know, after Ames's death, you awakened my destiny. I knew from the start that you were going to kill Ames. I just used him to get what I wanted." Sierra explained. X63 stomped closer to Max while Jocelyn whispered into Cindy's ear.

"What's happening, Cynthia?" she asked. "Is that the _thing_ that's killing all those people?"

Cindy tried to hush her mom, but X63 heard them talking behind the counter. Suddenly, he tried to charge at them, but Max jumped in the way. She swung her fist towards his metal head, only bruising her knuckles. He didn't even move one bit. With one push, Max went flying across the room. She hit against the pot wall and she slumped to the cold tile. Sierra watched as X63 had a little fun. She loved the watch Max get thrown around. X63 walked over to Max and picked her up by the back of her shirt. She was rendered useless. Effortlessly, he dropped her back onto the tiled floor, smashing her face. He then rose his leg and kicked her in the stomach, sending her airborne and bashing against the now-cracked wall.

"Max!" Yelled Cindy, trying to protect her mother. Cindy realized that she did still have daughterly feelings for her mother. She always will, but her mother didn't deserve one bit. Sierra pulled out a gun and aimed at Cindy and her mother.

"Don't even move." Sierra threatened. Original Cindy pushed her mother behind her and glared at Sierra.

"What'chu think you're doing? You gonna shoot me?" Cindy taunted, walking closer to Sierra. She held the gun and placed the cold tip against Cindy's forehead. "Go ahead, shoot."

"It's not your time yet." Sierra answered, using the back of the gun to hit Cindy's head. Jocelyn watched as her daughter was being beat by this blond woman in high-heels. She had to think quickly. Meanwhile, Max was trying to stay alive while fighting X63. He was too hard to hurt. His body was mostly covered with protecting metal. Not even her strong Transgenic blood could penetrate his barrier. She jumped up and did a backflip to kick him in the face. X63 backed away from the power of her kick. She kicked him in the stomach and made enough room between them so she could run over to Sierra. X63 grabbed her shirt from behind and threw her back against the wall. Before Sierra could hurt Cindy anymore, Jocelyn came from behind and hit her in the back of the head with a beer bottle. Sierra feel to the ground with shattered glass all over her head.

X63 grabbed Sierra and headed towards the front door. "We'll see each other again." he said, running out with Sierra. Jocelyn helped her mother up and she hugged her.

"Thank you, mom." Original Cindy replied, patting her head. Jocelyn smiled and rubbed her child's shoulders, staring into her dark eyes.

"No one hurts my daughter." Jocelyn whispered. Max walked over to them to see if they were okay. Hours passed and Max was back home, sitting with Logan on the couch. He had just finishing telling her about Asha's return and Renee working on an Eyes Only case about her parents. "She's really driven to pursue this case." he said, touching Max's thy.

"Are you ever going to tell her that you're the Eyes Only?" she challenged, arching one eyebrow. Logan smirked.

"I don't know. I think that we would work better if Eyes Only was my own. Enough about that subject, how's Original Cindy's mother holding up, absorbing all this information about Sierra and X63?" he asked. Max crossed her legs.

"You know, a mother and daughter connection and love never breaks. I haven't heard from her yet, but Jocelyn is going back home for awhile. A lot of bonding after so many years had been overwhelming. I think they're going to take it slow." Max said. Logan laughed.

"My mother use to say that a bond between the mother and a child is the strongest." he said. Max frowned.

_I understand what Logan is saying about the mother and a child. I believe that it would be the strongest bond ever. Of course, I would never know. My mom left me when I was really little. I do have a lingering hope that she's still alive, somewhere out there in this broken world. _

**APPEARANCES: Starring**

Max

Logan

Cindy

Alec

Sara

Joshua

**SPG (Special Guest)**

Erinn McNeil

Renee Hart

Sierra Lakefield

Asha-bot

X63 (first appearance)

Linsay Gomez

District Attorney Gordon

Jocelyn McEachin (guest Star)


	5. Episode 5: Enemies

**Readers Note: **Hey guys! Now that this season has been up and running for some time now, I have realized that my time has been slowly been depleting. So, for the readers who are wondering, an episode will be posted once a week on Friday evenings. Similar to my season three, I will post one every Friday night, same as the actual show. I know a week is a long wait and you want to get to the good stuff but I need more time to write them! This episode is the beginning of a conflict that will rise periodically in this season. You'll notice that this story line will not be consistent throughout the remaining episodes, but will reoccur later on. I want to slowly build up this one because it's crucial for the middle to the end of this season and you will see why in later episodes. Don't get to attached to the new characters yet, but I promise you that this isn't their last appearance! Enjoy

**DARK ANGEL**

**The Complete Fourth Season**

Episode 5

"Enemies"

* * *

**Previously on Dark Angel,**

Now that Max is back in Seattle kicking ass, a new enemy rises. X63 and Sierra work together to take down the Transgenic's and bring forth the end of the world. Also, a strong power is awakened in Terminal City named the "Council", which goes against anything Max believes in. This year is the most personal challenge she has ever had to face as the power struggle only increases.

* * *

A transgenic female ran through the thick, dense forest of Seattle. The Space Needle was full of bright colors, sending an intense ruby glow upon her. She paced, skipping over every exposed root of the giant oak trees. She began to lose her breath and couldn't run anymore. She tried to continue onward but there was no hope. Ava kept cocking her head to the side to see if they were still chasing her.

The moon was aglow with vibrant shades of pumpkin orange. Haunting sounds of the baying wolf sent chills down Ava's spine. She was all by herself and lost in the forest. Over the years in Seattle, it was well known that it wasn't the best place to be at night. Too many creatures roamed those parts but Ava had no choice. She found a small hiding spot and caught her breath.

"Where are you, Ava?" asked the dark and strong voice. Ava could hear the locking of the gun that the man was carrying. She didn't move a mussel. Her breathing had to lower in sound or she could be killed. Ava heard rumors about these people who were chasing her. They were called "Hunters". Ava noticed two shadows walk by the bush she had been lying behind. There were two of them; one guy and a girl. The woman had long, curly haze, hair and she was holding a large gun. A tough girl if you asked Ava. The guy was much larger and had broad shoulders. He was wearing a dark leather jacket and tight jeans. Ava couldn't help but think he was pretty good looking, although he was hunting her. The girl walked slowly towards Ava's bush, making the situation more intense, scarier.

"I know you're in here." The woman hunter whispered. The guy turned around and walked over to his girlfriend.

"Where is she honey?" he asked, spitting on the bush. Ava was going to try and run away but the Hunters had shot her instantly. Ava was lying on the dampened earth floor, bleeding to her slow death.

--

Sara entered her apartment and shut the door. She placed her keys on the oak table beside her pile of unopened mail. The house was a mess and Alec was never home anymore. He would always leave the house in the middle of the night and go drink himself away at Crash. Alec hasn't seen much of his friends lately either. Ever since the problem with Sara and her baby, he hasn't been the same old Alec. Sara had just gotten her hair cut and it was blond, shoulder length with a bang swept to the left. She loved the way it made her feel when she felt beautiful. It made up for all the negativity that was going on in her life at the current moment. She sat down on the living room couch and glanced at her engagement ring. The silver right shimmered in the beaming light from the flamboyant sun.

The diamond was gorgeous and perfectly sized with a princess cut. She loved the choice of ring that Alec had given her. She knew that he loved her and so did she love him. Soon after her thought process, Alec stumbled into the apartment. He was covered in the smell of alcohol and he began to laugh. Sara was startled and she walked up her to fiance.

"You've been drinking," she said. "Where have you been all morning?". Alec couldn't see straight. There were several different Sara's in front of him.

"What do you care?" he challenged. Sara was shocked that he had the balls to say that to her. She crossed her arms and averted her eyes over to the clock.

"Its only 10:00 am and you've already been drinking up a storm. Look, you're plastered!" she yelled. Sara's voice started to escalate. Alec was carrying a bottle of dry whiskey and her threw it against the wall. Whiskey splattered everywhere and glass shattered. Sara jumped away from her angered boyfriend and started to scream.

"What the hell are you doing? You could have hurt your baby which you obviously don't care about!"

"Don't you dare say that to me, Sara. You know I want to be this baby's father as much as I want to marry you!" he yelled, feeling a little dizzy. Sara couldn't listen to him anymore and she grabbed her keys and purse.

"Where are you going?" asked Alec, grabbing her arm. Sara pushed him off of her and opened the door.

"Somewhere other than here." she said, slamming the door. Sara walked down the hallway, passing by all the roaming, homeless people. She waved to one of her friends and the woman approached her. She was an african American woman named Joanna. She walked over to Sara and watched as she popped some pills.

"What you got there? Anything you can share?" Joanna asked, looking at the white pills Sara was downing. She shook her head and put the pills back into the brown person she had.

"Sorry, Joanna. I only have a couple left. I need them for the pain." Sara said, walking away. Joanna watched as Sara slowly left the hallway. Everyday, she was slowly looking worse. Her eyes were always blood-shot and she was constantly weakening. Something was wrong with her. Meanwhile, Max had approached the large, iron gates that led into Terminal City. Max opened them up and watched her back to make sure no one was watching her. Max walked pass many transgenics who were walking up and down the narrow path. Max could remember the siege at Jam Pony and the police chased everyone to Terminal City. That day was the birth of Freak Nation. _What has happened?_ she often thought. With the constant growth of butterflies in her stomach, she stood in front of a barbed fence. Two transgenic guards overlooked the area where Max was standing. Mole jumped down, pointing his gun at her head.

"Well, aren't you the mysterious 452." Mole said scanning her up and down. "Where have you been? We've been missing you lately."

Max tilted her head to the left, smirking. "Good old Mole, always piercing a charm to a girls heart." she sarcastically added. "Let me in, I need to talk to those people. What do you call them, uh, the Council?" she asked. "Very original."

"Don't flatter yourself, Max. They are a lot more of a leader than you will ever be." Mole snorted. Max pushed him out of the way and demanded for the fences to open. Mole opened the door and led her into Head Quarters. "This will be fun."

**DARK ANGEL**

Max faced the Council and she swallowed in fear. Lilith and Sarge watched as the former leader of Freak Nation stood before them. She looked into their eyes and got right to the point. "As you may know, I have recently escaped from yet again, another illegal facility where they have done numerous test on me. I was missing for three months and then my friends teamed up and got me back into the world. I have been face to face with our current enemy, X63." Max said, crossing her arms. Lilith stood up from her chair.

"Who are you to come here after letting your nation fall?" she asked. "We formed The Council, rising from the ashes of your Freak Nation. Listen honey, Freak Nation is no longer, nor are you." Lilith snapped back. Max shook her head.

"Hold on here, apply the breaks Mrs. Bitch. I don't know what you're on but I'm standing right in front of you." Max said, looking at Sarge as well. He glared back, not really agreeing with Lilith's decision.

"Now hold on one second. Who says she's not capable of helping us lead this nation?" Sarge asked. "I think she is perfect for the job."

Max smiled and Lilith was infuriated. "Where do we start?" she asked. Sarge tossed a beige folder towards Max. She opened the folder and he noticed two pictures printed in black and white.

"Who are these two people?" Max asked, sitting down. Lilith cleared her throat and continued to speak.

"These two that you speak of are highly trained assassins. Over the three months you were missing, the transgenics have made another alarming enemy. Word around street is that they are called, 'Hunters'. At first a myth, we have come to the conclusion that they are in fact real human beings." she explained. "Their names are Julian and Alexis."

"What makes you so sure that they are in fact 'Hunters'?" Max challenged. She flipped to the next page and noticed one of the transgenics shot to death in a forest.

"Her name was Ava. She was a good worker and a fellow friend here at the Council. For some reason, these Hunters are killing leaders of Terminal City. Since you so suddenly joined Terminal City again, we have your first assignment." Lilith snarled. Max jumped for joy.

"Oh, homework!" She added. Lilith wasn't so impressed.

"I want you to track down these Hunters and find out as much as you can. We need to know what these people do during the day and where they live. Once we get that chance, we need to eliminate them!" Lilith shouted. Max shook her head.

"Wait a minute! That's taking the lives of another human being. We can't just go killing other people. Two wrongs don't make a right, Lil." Max snapped. Lilith's eyes widened.

"Do not call me Lil!"

"Whatever Lil. Anyways, when I find these Hunters, I will put a stop to them, but in jail." Max said, walking out of The Council's room. She passed by Mole while she was leaving and he smiled with joy.

"Did you have a hell of a time in there?" he asked, Max smiled.

"I'm in, see you later." she replied, leaving Head Quarters as an angered expression began to form on his green face. Max was pleased with the way things worked out and in the meantime, she was going to find out everything she could about these Hunters. While walking out of Terminal City, she headed towards Cindy's restaurant that was down the street. Cindy had been making just enough business to get by in life. Paying the bills was one thing but she had to pay for Max since she was currently unemployed from the District Attorney's office. Max was still disappointed in Tanedra leaving town without a word. Something horrible must have really happened to her. She was aware that her husband died, of course, but Max often wondered what tipped Tanedra over the edge to want her to track Sierra down.

When opening the restaurant door, Cindy greeted her at the counter. The place was empty and no one was eating anything. Linsay had been sweeping the floors during her time off at the District Attorney's office, making some extra cash. "You know Boo, times like these suck ass." Cindy said, counting the cash from the register. "Like, all I made was five hundred in a week. That's poor girl."

Max looked around for Joshua. She had come by to speak with him for a little second. Since she was back, Joshua hasn't been around much. She figured he had his own life going now. He had a job at the restaurant and was making enough money. He was in the back, cleaning away. Max walked behind the store and approached Joshua, who was washing the walls. He was wearing a new set of clothes with the money he made. Showing his face in public now was a new thing for him. Yet, people don't understand how he works in the Human World. Joshua was new to the world, to the people's eyes. He needed someone to be with him. Although, Max new that Joshua hated to be watched all the time. He wanted to do everything on his own and make a living. Similar to what he was doing recently. "Hey big fella." she said, leaning against the frame of the door. Joshua turned around and hugged her tightly. Max smiled until oxygen was becoming an issue with his tightening arms embracing her around.

"Sorry, I haven't seen my little fella in a long time." Joshua muttered, looking back at the dirty wall and cleaning it up. Max twiddled her thumbs and played with an idea in her head.

"I have an idea, Joshua." she started. Joshua slightly cocked his head. "How about we go out for a little bit? Walk around Seattle for a little while."

"I don't know, Max. Joshua has to work for Original Cindy to earn money," he explained, cleaning the wall. Max didn't take no for an answer.

"I'll pick you up at your house tonight. We're going to have so much fun.," she said but before she could leave he grabbed her arm with extreme strength.

"No! Not my house, I'll see you at yours." he said, glaring into her eyes then turning his head to begin cleaning once more. Max was confused to why he was being this way, but she listened to him and left the restaurant. Cindy waved goodbye and walked over to Linsay, who was still sweeping. She pulled the broom away and stopped her from cleaning anymore.

"Girl, what's the matter with you. You've been cleaning like a mad woman. Loosen up and lets go get some coffee.," she suggested. Linsay put the broom aside and kissed Cindy on the lips. The two were locked in a passionate kiss and before you knew it, Cindy quickly turned the white sign facing forward that had capital letters saying "Shut" on the door. Joshua peeked into the restaurant from the back and made sure no one was watching. Cindy and Linsay were behind the counter and this gave him a perfect opportunity to get what he wanted. Slowly closing the door, Joshua tiptoed to his destination. Original Cindy heard noise and looked over the counter, noticing someone entering the dining area. She squinted her eyes to try and focus on the dark figure ahead. Linsay tugged her arm.

"What's wrong?" she asked kissing her shoulder. Cindy signaled Linsay to quiet down as they watched the intruder steal something from the cupboard. Linsay dug for her pants in the pile of clothes and grabbed her gun. "I'm going." she said. Original Cindy shook her head and whispered into her lovers' ear.

"No, don't. We can't let them know we're here. If they get too close, use the gun." Cindy spoke, turning her head to watch the intruder run away with a bag full of items. Joshua charged out of Cindy's restaurant and headed for his home with the items he had stolen, leaving the two women hiding behind the counter.

--

Logan sped through files on his computer, one after another. He was trying to locate one of a certain interest. He came across files of completed missions that Max and him worked on two years ago. Logan missed those days when they fought together and brought criminals to justice. He clicked again and again, flipping through numerous jobs. His Eyes Only files were complete with profiles of Seattle's most wanted enemies. Suddenly, he noticed the certain computer file that he needed. A man's face was on the huge screen and Logan looked intensely the face. A face he could never forget, someone from his past that may have the answers. Logan didn't want to tell anybody about his recent found information for he feared that they would get in the way.

He searched for the print icon and waited patiently for the pages to be finished. Reaching for the phone, he began to dial Matt Sung's number. Matt answered and Logan started the conversation on a serious note. "I found him and I know where he is located. I need your help with locating his business files. We may have a strong lead." Logan said hanging up the phone. When he spun around on his computer chair, he turned to face a curious Renee at the door. She was holding bags of Chinese food but that didn't seem relevant at the moment.

"Renee, what are you doing here?" he asked. She was perched against the wall with an intense glare.

"Who was that on the phone?" she challenged, scanning his features. Logan was lost for words. Everything he was doing was supposed to be kept secret. Sad as it was to do, he needed to lie to Renee once more. She wasn't even aware that Eyes Only was he. He liked to keep his identity secret from her during missions.

"An old friend who was doing me a favor. I needed to contact him for a recent Eyes Only mission. Knowing the people of Seattle, there are numerous reports of hate mail towards Eyes Only's return and I needed to help clear something's up. So, how are you?" he asked with a fake smile stretching across his face. It took Renee a good moment before she continued on with the small talk. She was still wondering why Logan was being so secretive with her.

"I'm fine but that's more than I can say for you. What's wrong? You seem to be acting differently than your normal cheerful self." she explained, placing the Chinese food on the counter. Logan stood up, still getting use to the fact that he could walk now. He was now eye to eye with Renee and she crossed her arms waiting for an answer.

"Listen Renee, I'm peachy. Just let me do what I need to do and we can start back on the case about your parents. There's just some personal stuff that needs to be cleared." Logan replied, grabbing his jacket and leaving the apartment. Renee stood behind as he shut the front door. Once then, she ran to his computer and wanted to know what he was doing. So, she began to retrace the places he was looking at in his computer. Being an expert herself with computers, she was able to locate the recent files being viewed. Logan had set up many cryptic firewalls that were going to take some time, but she knew she could pass them with a couple codes.

--

Max rode her bike to the back ally of the District Attorney's office where Erinn was waiting for her with a pile of information. She had been doing some digging on recent deaths, similar to the Hunters designs. Max approached her resource and grabbed the files. "That's everything on the three months you missed. In total, there were a dozen deaths through the summer but the count has increased big time this month. For some reason, your Hunter friends have picked up their work. Something tells me that they don't want to waste time. I contacted my boss, Lieutenant Dean Hansen and he told me that they are keeping an eye of these creeps.," explained Erinn. "I'm glad you're alright."

"Well, I'll be better when these Hunters are dead. I have no leads to go on except that they enjoy hunting transgenics in the Seattle woods. According to the reports, that's where most of this month deaths occurred. I figured that I would swing by tonight and go for a little walk in the forest.," she teased, digging her hands in her pockets from the cold breeze. "Damn, it's getting chilly."

"Autumn has arrived and is kicking our ass." replied Erinn, answering her phone. The guy on the other line was her newest boss who took over the FBI unit she worked for. Lieutenant Dean Hansen was his name. She was talking to him about the Protectors and what her next job was to do. Max felt uncomfortable while waiting to hear what her next Protector is supposed to do. It was still a little confusing for Max about the Protectors and their actual job. Yea, they were assigned to certain transgenics to help them through problems such as the Hunters, but why? Erinn hung up and glanced over at Max. "Sorry about that, I need to go for now. Make sure you be careful tonight because we know what those Hunters are capable of doing." she said leaving the area.

Hours began to pass and night was quickly approaching. Max made her way towards the Seattle forest and waited along the outskirts. She came without a weapon and was excited for a good fist pounding. Another hour passed and there was no sign of any Hunters around. Maybe the Council was just playing Max and wanted her dead. She never knew what the Council was capable of doing to her or to any of the Transgenics. Max waited and she waited, watching the waxing moon only grow bigger in time. Max began to fall asleep, becoming instantly tired. For some reason ever since being held in -i-Corp for those three months, she regained the ability to be tired. It was a new thing on her part because now she was use to being asleep. She closed her eyes and suddenly she heard a gun cock in front of her. She quickly opened her eyes and grabbed the gun, moving it out of the way. A bullet was shot, piercing the ground ever so fast. Max jumped up from the wet ground and kicked the girl away. "Alexis!" the man yelled, grabbed Max and pushing her away.

"So you guys are the Hunters." Max said, catching her breath from being startled. Julian, the leader of the Hunters walked over to her and growled.

"You smell like a transgenic." he said pointing the gun to her head. Alexis cleaned herself off and smiled at Max.

"Damn, you have a serious kick. Courtesy to Manticore." Alexis snorted, licking the blood off her lips. Julian shook his head and stared deep into Max's eyes. Before she could attack first, she suddenly started to shake. She was experiencing something she has never before. It was like a hot flash; numerous flashes of images were appearing in her complex head. Images of family pictures and Manticore. She was having old memories appear as well when she was a little kid in Manticore. All the severe training they had to live through during their stay in the hell. For some reason, her genetics were making her see this in her head, why? Julian didn't know what she was doing. Max was having an attack and her was curious.

"What's happening to her?" Julian asked, looking at Alexis. She didn't know what was happening to Max at all either. She was having some sort of attack and Alexis was getting annoyed.

"See what I'm talking about, baby. These Manticore projects are just so messed up and we need to end them. There are so many of them roaming around the place." she said. "Let's finish them off, continuing with her."

"Wait, she's harmless." Julian said. "I think we can leave her alone for now."

For some weird reason, Julian didn't want to hurt Max at the moment. He felt attached to her in a way. Alexis became jealous and before he knew it, she grabbed his arm and left with him, leaving Max behind. Max stopped shaking and regained her energy to pick herself up and understand what was happening. Why was she having compulsions when he was around her? She felt connected in a way.

Two days later, back at the Council, with the newest information from Max, the Hunters were still at large, but no signs of them. Max had joined the Council officially and was a part of the decision-making despite Lilith's anger.

--

Sara sat on her couch after coming home from being out as usual. She popped one of her pills and relaxed, waiting for the pain to go away. If it took her life, she was still going to give birth to this baby. Alec came into the house afterwards with a regretful expression upon his face. "Sara, are you ready to talk to me?" he asked. Sara didn't reply, popping another pill. "You know that this stress isn't good for you."

"Thanks for your concern, Alec. So nice of you to think of us." Sara answered, picking her nails. He sat down beside her and handed her a bag. She glared at him and slowly opened the grocery bag. At first, she thought this was a lame way of making her happy, which it was, but for a stranger reason, a smile appeared. She grabbed the personal sized tub of ice cream out of the bag and she smiled once more.

"Thank you. I mean it this time." Sara said, putting the ice cream back in the bag. Alec looked into her eyes and kissed her on the lips.

"I want this soon to come marriage to work, Sara. I also want this baby to be ours." he said. Sara hugged her tightly and knew that he was the worse boyfriend in the world, but she couldn't help but love him for whom he was, even how damaged he was. She was ready to work this thing out called marriage and being a family.

--

Renee finally decoded the files off Logan's computer. For two days, he had been missing, which gave Renee the drive she needed to decode them. When reaching for the final button, the files appeared on the large screen. "What in the hell?" she asked herself, reading the page that popped up. She was utterly shocked what Logan was doing.

To be continued...

**APPEARANCES: Starring**

Max

Logan

Cindy

Alec

Sara

Joshua

**Guest Starring:**

Erinn McNeil

Renee Hart

Julian (First appearance)

Alexis (first Appearance)

Linsay Gomez

Mole

District Attorney Gordon

Lilith

Sarge


	6. Episode 6: Predators and Prey

**Readers Note: **Hello Everyone! This week, I decided to change some things in the story and other things. First, I have a question for y'all. Would you mind rating the episodes you read out of 10? I would love to know how people honestly think of the episode their reviewing so I know when I improved or when I need to improve. That would be great guys! Also, this episode, I kind of took a darker turn, I know, risky, but I thought it would be fun playing with this dynamic. I simply took James Cameron's TV series and slowly made it darker and darker and now it's plunging into new territory and mythology. I wanted this season to be darker than the rest because it's a lot more new stories lines and characters. When season five comes, that's when the ratings come into play, whether I'm going to stretch the series eve further and enter the sixth season. But no worries right now, for you have plenty more season four episodes to R&R&R lol (read, review, rate) lol Enjoy.

**DARK ANGEL**

**The Complete Fourth Season**

Episode 6

"Predators and Prey"

* * *

**Previously on Dark Angel,**

Now that Max is back in Seattle kicking ass, a new enemy rises. X63 and Sierra work together to take down the Transgenic's and bring forth the end of the world. Also, a strong power is awakened in Terminal City named the "Council", which goes against anything Max believes in. This year is the most personal challenge she has ever had to face as the power struggle only increases.

* * *

The bar was loud that night; many of Seattle's citizens were enjoying their night out. Some were drinking beer; others had been dancing to the beat of the intense music. Not only was this a setting of a great night, this was the female predator's playground. Some of the most severe creatures of the night can be in the form of a beautiful woman. They always kept their eyes on the most desired prey during the night (a delicious meal to fulfill her hunger that ached so intensely within her being). One woman in particular was looking for that kind of man who will make her happy. The kind of happy that no one probably understood that was, you know, human. She entered the club and strutted to the nearest chair that faced the bar counter. Sitting down and ordering a drink, she kept herself from jumping someone in public and ripping his main artery out with her teeth. The hunger was so tense, so unstoppable. The urges were aching in her stomach, waiting a big meal to get her through the night.

While sipping her whiskey, she scanned her surroundings, the delicious meals walking on two feet, passing by every second. What more of a better snack than to eat a whole male. The taste always leaves tingles in her mouth, arousing her senses. She was so hungry and was in dire need of her next meal. Of course, she needed to take minute by minute. Her digestive system worked differently than the normal human. If she were to feel complete satisfaction from a full meal, she needed to slowly eat the prey. Every bite counted to this creature. While pondering about her next meal, a guy sat beside her. He was one of the most gorgeous men she had ever seen. He was the perfect choice on the menu. Elena gracefully flipped her long, blond in hopes of luring the man sitting beside her. "So, want to buy me a drink?"She asked smiling with her ruby lips. He averted his eyes over to her and grinned.

"I would be glad too." he muttered, signalling the bartender to approach them. One drink led to another and another until finally they were intoxicated. Elena was completely enjoying her time, luring her meal into the trap. Evan (her prey), followed her to the car she had parked outside. He hoped in and began to laugh when he noticed he could see doubles of objects. Elena rolled her eyes realizing that she had picked up a dumb one. What the heck, it was a meal right? While turning into her apartment's underground parking lot, she dragged the drunken Evan into her home.

"Come on, baby. We're almost there." she said, opening the door to her room. He quickly began to take off his clothes and jumping onto the comfortable bed. Elena ran into her walk-in closet to get into a sexy outfit. She leaned out to impress him with her sexy clothes and stretching moves but to her surprise, he had fallen asleep. Elena pouted and walks over to slap him in the face. "Wake up! The night is far from over." she promised, kissing him on the lips. Evan enjoyed himself, having this beautiful, mysterious woman on top of him. She began to kiss him faster, the seconds in between were lessening. He was feeling her all over, kissing her passionately. Elena couldn't hold her hunger inside anymore, she needed to be full. Evan kissed her even more, creating a trail down her neck.

"You're so hot." he said. Elena sat up and looked at him in the eyes.

"I'm really hungry." Elena smiled. Evan smirked.

"What do you want babe?" he challenged. A menacing smile stretched upon her face and she opened her wide mouth to reveal razor sharp rows of teeth. Evan began to beg for help but no one was around. She dug her teeth into his neck and tore out stuff to much on. Blood was everywhere and before he knew it, Evan was dead. Elena finished up her meal and cleaned the blood off her mouth. Suddenly, the razor teeth disappeared and she was normal again but this time, she was full. Elena twisted the knob to her floor lamp and a penetrating glow warmed the room. She jumped into the shower and cleaned the rest of her body off. The water that fell slowly turned red until it was of a deep ruby. She stepped out and put on a silky housecoat. This was usually what her night consists of before the meal. It wasn't her fault she was like this; the stupid place that created her did this. She turned her left hand and the scar on her palm revealed. -i-Corp had unleashed her and she wasn't ready to be brought back. She was having too much fun out at night. She gracefully walked over to the window after smelling an aroma and noticed a beautiful creation. She noticed another man walking down the street, sipping beer. She grinned and said to herself that he was another meal on legs. What was horrifying was that Elena had her eyes fixated on Alec.

--

The next morning, Max had finished her early morning jog and glided into the kitchen. She had been jogging away her nagging thoughts about X63 and Sierra. It was only a matter of time until they appeared again, throwing her around like a rag doll. Max grabbed her coffee and walked over to Original Cindy's room to see the sheets untouched. Max guessed that she was staying over a Linsay's for the night. Being tired after running for three hours, she turned on the TV and was devastated to see a murder scene on the news. The anchor woman was Seattle's one and only, Helen Lorenzo. She was always the money hungry, backstabbing, two-faced girl who got her way. Besides from being rich and craving attention, she works for the New World Weekly. She consistently got great reviews for her stories she wrote in the weekly column, but Max could see right through her.

She had been at the recent crime scene that happened the night before. This is what she had to say. "Last night in Seattle, a gruesome murder spree continues to increase on the streets. The police have found hacked body parts in a closet of an apartment, wrapped in plastic bags. After questioning thoroughly, reports say that they continually see a woman walking into that apartment with a different man each night. People are looking for a suspect with these features." Helen said when Max turned off the TV. Suddenly the phone rang and to Max's surprise, the District Attorney was on the phone.

"Max, we need your help." he said. Max smiled. Just like old times.

**DARK ANGEL**

The District Attorney chucked a file folder that contained various pictures taken at the crime scene in the last week. Max had a clip on her leather jack that hung low saying, "visitor". No longer did she work for the office anymore. She missed those days when she would get up and get called in for work. Tanedra was always there waiting for her with yet another case about the Transgenics. She always felt better with herself when saving the innocents from dangers around Seattle. Max smiled at D.A Gordon and picked up the file filled with gruesome pictures. "And you want me to do what?" she asked, tucking her hair behind her ear. He crossed his arms and pointed to the first picture.

"This was the first victim; male, approximately the age of mid-twenties. His name was Jason Locke, torn to pieces by the murderer." Gordon said. Max looked at the photo and noticed all the hacked body parts all across the room. The killer must have lured the men into her apartment, intoxicated them and seduced them into her bed. The longer it took Max to analyze the picture, the more information she was picking up.

"To me, it seems that the killer is taking the victims and seducing them in a sexual manner. Then, evident in the photo, she kills them on her bed. The hacking must happen in the same room. By the looks of the techniques she was using to cut the bodies, she has had experience." Max explained, looking at the next photo. Every photo escalated, increasing in gore and how the murderer killed her victims. The District Attorney showed something else to her in a red folder. She grabbed the file and smiled.

"How appropriate, it matches." she giggled, opening the file. Gordon was as shocked as she was.

"Several more butchered body parts of males but this time we found something else." he said, pointing to the right arm that was lying on the bed in the picture. Max used her Manticore gifts and zoomed in on the puncture wounds. "If you look closely at the arm, there are several bite marks. Forensic investigators sent back their progress report after analyzing the body parts. They figured the bite marks were from a large animal." he suggested. Max shrugged her shoulders.

"What kind of animal?" she asked, looking at the photo. Max doubted that an animal could be this skilled in killing a person. She almost started to laugh to think that people wondered if animals were the cause of seduction than murder. Max obviously figured it was some form of a transgenic, who she released into the world. The D.A had this intense look pasted on his olive toned face. Max was worried about what he was going to say next.

"I think you know what I'm talking about, Max. Don't play coy with me. Ever since you started working here last year, I've had suspicions since day one. You and Tanedra were always solving your own little missions involving the Transgenic brethren. I've been watching you for some time now. Have you wondered why you don't work here anymore? I knew this was a dangerous place for you working here; so many transgenic haters out there, Max. It's not a safe out in the world right now. I called you here today because you are one of the most helpful and skilled employee's I've ever had. I needed you to help me with this case because I figured the way this murderer killed these people, it's inhumane. What more would a transgenic need to lash out and kill a human?" he explained, touching her shoulder. Max didn't agree.

"I'm sorry sir, but if you're intending that transgenics kill humans because their mad, than I think you're wrong. We don't hurt innocent people, Mr. District Attorney. Yes, the people of Seattle have given us great amounts of stress throughout these years and I'm not about to take it from you as well. Whoever is doing this has problems, problems that our creator, Manticore gave us. Not all are damaged like this, Sir. Manticore placed us all into different categories." Max explained. "This woman obviously has taken another route in killing, using her abilities that were given to her."

"Listen to you, Max. You have strength unlike any other. Everything about you is morally amazing. Keep doing what you're doing. I can tell you now that it will only get better in time." he said, smiling. Max smiled and walked out of his office and tried to absorb all the images and information that was given to her. Who would have thought that the District Attorney knew she was part of the transgenic brethren. Max always thought he was a good guy and he did well in his job. She wished him good things. While walking down the streets, she decided to see Logan. Walking up to his apartment, she rang the doorbell. Renee answered frantically trying to block what she was doing.

"Good morning, Max. I'm Renee. So nice to actually finally meet you after, you know, saving you." she smiled. Max wondered where Logan was and started to get nervous.

"Is Logan home? I haven't talked to him in awhile and I wouldn't mind popping in to say hello." Max noted. "There was so much to catch up with him."

"I have something to tell you." Renee said, allowing Max into the apartment. "It's about Logan and his recent activities."

--

Joshua sat in his basement, analyzing the wall full of deep carvings. These were messages from Sandeman, left for Joshua to find. He had been stealing many supplies in order to create a solution that he longed to have. Joshua neglected to tell anyone about this wall of messages. He was too afraid they wouldn't understand, especially Max. Three months ago, when Annie's dog, Billie came to stay with Joshua, Billie had a knife in her mouth. Joshua realized that behind all of his portraits of Annie, lye a wall of answers. Answers that will help solve many of Joshua's questions about why he was created. For years now, all he felt was dismal depressed, alone. It was Joshua's turn to become the happy and free one.

While gazing at the carved wall, he remembered various stories that Sandeman use to tell him at night. One night specifically, Sandeman had chained Isaac against the cool stone wall. His brother never listened to father and always wanted to finish him off. Joshua sat in the corner, feeding off the warm blood from various rats. Father may have not treated them right, but Joshua always felt connected with him as his first. He could feel the chilly breath of freedom coming from the window above. Many days and nights he would spend thinking about the outside world and how the Ordinaries lived their normal lives.

Sandeman would come into the cellar and explain stories about the end of time and the Saviour. Joshua could never imagine himself meeting this Saviour during his stay on this Earth. Sandeman's story was always morbid and dark, until the Saviour came to save them. He often wondered what the Saviour would save the people from. Sandeman was never specific on the event and the date of this occurrence. All Joshua remembered from the story was that the Saviour is still living. "_-And the Saviour will carry markings that depict she is the chosen one, the one and only woman that will save the world from the end of time_." Joshua remembered the genetic markings that appeared all over her body a year ago. It was the beginning to something very important, something dangerous to mankind.

--

Logan drove over to the underground parking lot of Harbour Lights, the nearest Hospital with the intent of meeting someone in particular. He parked the car beside Matt Sung's police vehicle, where Matt stood patiently waiting for his arrival. They both held thick files containing profiles of suspects for the current case they were working on. Other pages revealed information relevant to Logan's newest case for Eyes Only; a case that he wanted to keep confidential between Matt and himself. He also said a couple things to Richardo Santos on his last visit to retrieve some weapons. Matt welcomed his friend and they exchanged files. "You always went right to business." Matt said. Logan smiled.

"Well, you know I like to get things done. Long time no talk, how's the wife and kids?" Logan asked, crossing his arms. Matt had gotten married to his girlfriend, Diana and has had two children in the past two years. Diana has been off work for two years straight and decided to be a stay-at-home wife with the children.

"The kids are great and Diana is always working hard at home, making up from the time I miss here at work. Since the break out of chaos four months ago and people broke into the borders of Seattle, attacking the transgenics, things have been very hectic. The boss has ordered everyone to make a double the hours to protect these streets. The balance is tipping and I give it a couple years until this new Council will deplete into nothing." Matt replied. Logan could think about Max's issues, but he quickly lost the thought for he didn't want to let his feelings for her break the strong barriers he had taken a long time to build. He was so close to solving his newest Eyes Only case and didn't want any distractions. The facility he was touching upon was too dangerous to involve Renee, Max and the rest of the gang.

"If you look on the first page, you'll see the profile of a suspect. After digging extensively through archives and archives, I finally found something I was looking for, a lead. -i-Corp uses a person referred to as the "source" to get all their various formulas and information. Manticore used combinations of formulas to alter their DNA for combat and numerous different designations. -i-Corp have been using the mind of a genius to bring forth ideas to genetically alter ones appearance and abilities beyond Manticores imagination. I would ask for the assistance of the Council, but under certain circumstances, we don't speak." Logan whispered at the end. Matt didn't understand why he's an enemy with the Council, but he wasn't going to ask.

"This 'source' guy, is he who you're looking for?" Matt challenged. Logan nodded his head and handed Matt another picture.

"Now, I don't have many people on my list, but they are concrete suspects."

While they were talking to each other in the parking lot, Logan could see shadows moving from the corner of his eyes. He didn't want to bring attention to the people hiding in the back, listening into the conversation. Matt wasn't aware of whom Logan could see, but he got the signal and slowly grasped his gun from his belt. They continued to talk until it was a prudent time to attack. Before Matt could pull out his gun an -i-Corp soldier appeared, shooting him directly in the chest. He fell to the ground, handing his gun to Logan. Suddenly, a dozen more revealed themselves from behind stone pillars, all pointing the guns at Logan. To their surprise, he has already crawled away with Matt. While hiding behind a stone pillar himself, Logan tried to stop the warm blood from leaking out of his friend before it was too late.

A dark van drove into the underground parking lot, carrying more soldiers and General Boyd. He stepped out holding a machine gun and wearing a thick bullet-proof vest. "Good morning men." he said. He walked around the area for a little bit, scanning. Logan and Matt had to be somewhere in this parking lot. Boyd signalled two soldiers to grab Richardo Santos out of the car, blind folded. General Boyd lifted the black blind fold, letting Richardo see.

"Where am I?" he asked, looking around. General Boyd started to laugh.

"Don't you go playing me, Santos. I think you know exactly where we are. Remember when you told me where to find Mr. Cale?" he asked, ratting Richardo out. Logan couldn't believe what he was hearing behind the pillar. He knew that Santos was a rat but backstabbing him at this time was low. Matt was in a stable condition for now, although his blood loss was severe.

"Hang in there, buddy." Logan whispered.

General Boyd pointed the gun at Santos's head, threatening to shoot. "Cale, I have a question. What would you do to save your friend here? You know that he is very popular on the District Attorneys list. We could just easily hand him over to them and he wouldn't be a worry anymore. That is if you come out of your hiding spot and show your true face."

"There's no need for him, Boyd. I need assistance for my friend, he's bleeding pretty badly." Logan shouted. General Boyd smiled, pointing the gun towards Richardo and shooting him four times. He slumped to the ground, creating a puddle of blood beneath him. Logan didn't agree on his death, he only wanted to put Santos in jail.

"You lied!" Logan yelled. Boyd loaded his gun again.

"You said he had no importance to you. So, I ended his life; kind of nice of me if you think about it. If we did hand him over to the District Attorney, his life would be short-lived anyways. Think of it as a gift."

Suddenly, soldiers began to search for Logan and Matt, cocking their guns. It took a couple of minutes, but one man came across a trail of red blood, coming from behind a pillar. The guy walked over to reveal Matt's cold body behind. He picked up his walky-talky, beeping in on Boyd's. "Cale's gone." He said until Matt raised his arm and shot the soldier who stood in front. Matt was alive and well, all just playing Logan's trick. Suddenly, Logan grabbed General Boyd from behind, aiming Matt's blood covered gun against his cheek.

"Don't even move. I'm warning you, breathe and a piece of led will find its way into your skull." Logan threatened.

--

District Attorney Gordon walked into his office and shut the door behind him. He had finally packed up the rest of Sierra's old office and was ready to hire the newest mayor's liaison. She was a really good worker and she made him happy. Finding out that she was the cause for chaos last year struck his final nerve. He stacked his files and started to scan through them for possible jury members in his next case. He needed to get the jury to believe that the man he was working with was innocent of the crime. Erinn entered the office holding an envelope.

"I was just checking in to make sure if I can go home now. I finished everything for the day and I wanted to know if I could leave early for personal reasons?" she asked. Gordon smiled and grabbed the check she was holding and placed it in his desk.

"Be careful now. There's someone thing out there killing people. I don't want you to get hurt." he said.

"Something thing?" challenged Erinn. District Attorney Gordon arched his eyebrow.

"I meant someone." he laughed, hiding something. Erinn smiled and left the room, leaving the building. She walked towards her car and drove out of the parking lot. Meanwhile, Gordon studied the jurors' profiles and tried to find a good way to persuade them during court. While the ticking of his clock struck noon, he heard a noise come from the main office.

"Erinn?" he called but no one answered. With curiosity becoming overwhelming, he stepped away from his desk to look around. Noises were coming from every end, startling Gordon as he walked further. Shadows roamed behind, front, side to side. He couldn't grasp a straight image but someone was in the office with him. Holding a gun, he searched the room.

"Come out and let's talk about this." he said. "I don't want this to get messy." Every step made the wooden floor squeak, intensifying the suspense. The further he stepped forward, the more the morbid chills tingled down his spine. When he turned around, a woman had jumped him, tackling him down to the ground. She had fierce, yellow eyes and massive teeth. Her hair was messy and filled with tangles and blood dripped down from her mouth and landed on his cheek. He tried to keep her away from his face. His arms began to weaken, she was starting to become heavier and heavier. He knew this was the transgenic killing all those men around Seattle. He tried until there was no more strength; she had advantage over District Attorney Gordon.

Erinn had driven away from the building, but until she noticed that she had left her phone on her desk, she turned the car. Driving down the street, she hit a couple red lights and finally made it back to the work building. Opening the door, she noticed a strange smell coming from the D.A's office. She looked over the counter and noticed her phone beside important papers of hers. She grabbed the phone and put it in her pocket, making sure it was on.

She followed the odd smell to his room, where she hesitated to open the office door. Erinn wondered if it would be a good idea to do so or not. The smell was awful and attacking her stomach. Did she really want to know what the source of that strong smell was? Going with her first instincts, she opened the office door to reveal something frightening. Erinn screamed and backed away, tripping over her own foot and slamming on the hardwood.

District Attorney Gordon laid dead and torn open on his chair. The blood had been taken out and sipped dry, a horrifying image to see in one's mind. He was completely cut open. Someone had to have superhuman strength in order to tear through ones ribcage. The smell was strong making Erinn's ability to move lessen. She had seen horrible before but never this. The District Attorney of Seattle was killed by what seems to be a transgenic. How was Max going to explain this one to the Ordinaries. As Erinn tried to stand up, she noticed the woman covered in blood come at her, knocking her unconscious.

--

Renee guided Max through different things in Logan's computer. She had been showing her what Logan had been hiding from them. At first, Max knew that Logan wouldn't hide something from her that was important, until Renee showed her pictures of different men. These photos were taken recently in police records, something Logan was doing behind all their backs. "And what do you want me to think?" Max asked.

"Look, Max. He has all these files of people for some reason. I think it's because he has been hiding something." Renee continued. "What else would he be doing?"

Renee allowed Max to think about things before answering. _What if he was hiding something from them? Logan, couldn't be, could he? No, stop thinking about this, he's yours and yours only. Logan would never do that to me. Wow, its weird saying that he's mine. He's mine, mine._ Max couldn't and didn't want to grasp the thought of assuming something that isn't. "Renee, I'm sure he's just doing a normal Eyes Only mission. Don't worry about girl. Just have some fun tonight, its Friday."

Suddenly, before Renee could dig deeper into Eyes Only's computer, it crashed. Everything shut down before her eyes and files began to erase. "No!" she yelled, trying to bring the information back. Someone had brought his system down, hiding something.

"He planted this." Renee said. "Logan knew someone was going to try and hack into his computer. I mean, I thought I figured out how to decode his firewalls, but they were just decoy." she continued to explain. Max listened to Renee until she heard a beep on her phone. She grabbed it to see that the District Attorney had sent her a message a couple of hours ago. He had told her to come and meet him before shut down to make sure of things before court. Max shut her phone and looked over to Renee, who had curious written all over her.

"What's wrong?" she asked. Max shook her head.

"Nothing, I just have to go back to work. I mean, I have to pop by the D.A's office for a second. I'll catch you later and don't worry about Logan. He's probably just doing an Eyes Only mission." she said.

"But he could get himself in danger." worried Renee. Max paused, feeling exactly how Renee felt. It scared her to feel the same way Renee did for Logan.

"Danger is his middle name. He loves danger; he has danger coming out of his, woh whoo." she smiled. "Gotta blaze!"

Max reached the District Attorney's building and opened the door. All the lights were turned off and only the beaming sun was providing her light. The ceiling fan provided an eerie rhythm, making it hard for Max to focus. All but one light was off and ahead lye Gordon's office, where one light provided an amber glow. Max could smell the stench of death and knew someone was watching her. She put her long, brown hair into a tie and got ready to fight. Her fists were in position and used her vision to examine the door ahead. She knew someone was in there and getting ready for her to attack.

Approaching the door, she noticed that Erinn was bound to the wall of the D.A's office. She had been beating up pretty bad and shackled. Blood was trickling down her face and she could hardly see. Max walked into deeper to see Gordon's body torn open. She covered her mouth and turned around to see the Elena standing beside her. "Max." she whispered punching her with a strong force, pushing Max airborne. Max hit against the wall and quickly landed back on her feet.

"I'm sorry, do we know each other?" Max asked jump kicking Elena in the face. She landed on the ground and used only one arm to lift herself back up. "Oh, that's right. I let you out of your cage. Sorry about that, I can get that arranged." Max replied. Elena stood up, licking the blood off her lip.

"Don't flatter yourself, transgenic. I'm not one of you." Elena snorted. Max was confused.

"Wait, then who are you? What are you?" Max challenged. Elena started to laugh, revealing her razor teeth. Max could tell she wasn't at all human.

"We're the end." she cackled.

"We?" Max was starting to get freaked out. Elena jumped into the air and started to bite Max on the shoulder. Using her limited strength, Max slammed Elena against the wall. Max scanned the room quickly for a weapon to fight this succubus with. She was crazy, every punch, every kick was barbaric. Max couldn't think where she came from and who created her?

Erinn awakened against the wall, trying to regain her eye sight. Max and Elena were fighting all around the room. Vases and windows were being smashed as Gordon's body lay dead. Erinn struggled to release herself from the chains. Max kicked Elena in the face, flying her back a couple of inches away. With this time well deserved, she quickly sped towards Erinn, tearing the chains off of her. Erinn fell from the wall, picking herself up. Elena jumped on Max once again, both falling to the ground. Elena pinned Max to the ground and smiled.

"Your kind doesn't stand a chance." she said, opening her large mouth. Elena's skin stretched to the fullest, revealing her full mouth of teeth. There were hundreds of razor teeth ready to tear Max's face off. She had never seen anything like it before. What was she? Erinn limped towards her desk, grabbing her gun. Running back into the room, she pointed the gun.

"Salutations bitch." Erinn said, pulling the trigger. Max squinted, both nothing happened. Erinn checked her gun and there were no more bullets. Elena started to laugh and kneel down onto Max to finish her. Before she could go any further, Erinn grabbed an envelope opener and pierced Elena's face. Blood fell from her mouth, landing in Max's mouth. She shook it off and tried to spit the horrible taste out of her mouth. She pushed Elena's body off of her and with Erinn's help, stood up.

"What in the hell was that?" Max asked. Erinn threw the weapon on the ground.

"Something we don't know about." She replied, walking Max out of the building.

--

Renee stood up as Logan's door opened. She was relieved to see that Logan was alright and in one peace. Logan had survived the confrontation with General Boyd and -i-Corp. Matt was in the hospital, recovering nicely. She smiled and hugged him. "I thought you were going to be dead in a couple of hours." she said. They stood face to face, sharing a moment. Logan began to become uncomfortable and pushed her away.

"I'm sorry, Renee, but I can't. I'm finally with the girl of my dreams and I can't have this happen." he said, frowning. Renee didn't understand but slowly caught on.

"Silly, I don't like you. That's nasty, I think of you as my older brother." she laughed, grabbing her coat. "Make sure you tell me where you're going next time, before I freak." Renee shouted, leaving the apartment. Logan smiled and took off his coat, revealing the dried blood all over him.

--

Another day passed and morning was breaching. The horizon was of an ember glow and ready to form into bright colors. Cindy held a beer and sat beside pregnant Sara and Alec. They all watched the news about the District Attorney's death. "Damn, he just died like that." Cindy said. Sara and Alec smiled at each other, holding hands as her ring reflected bright rays of light. Max faked her smile as usual and thought about the night before. Something that Elena had mentioned that freaked Max out, "the end".

Who created her? What was she? Someone is out there, creating their own army, but whom?

_Life is a bitch. I say this because we're all going to die in the end. Why can't we just live happy before kicking the bucket? There are those who love each other deeply, but can't find a way to let known, a mother who is scared for the future of her child and those who want others dead. Some things that lurk in the dark, waiting for their prey._

_**I Dedicate this episode to my beloved hamster who passed away on Friday October 2nd. I love ya Peanut, have fun up where you are!**  
_

**APPEARANCES: Starring**

Max

Logan

Cindy

Alec

Sara

Joshua

**Guest Starring:**

Erinn McNeil

Renee Hart

General Boyd

Matt Sung

Richardo Santos

District Attorney Gordon

Helen Lorenzo (First Appearance)


	7. Episode 7: Under Your Skin

**Readers Note: **Hello Everyone! This week, I decided to change some things in the story and other things. First, I have a question for y'all. Would you mind rating the episodes you read out of 10? I would love to know how people honestly think of the episode their reviewing so I know when I improved or when I need to improve. That would be great guys! Also, this episode, I kind of took a darker turn, I know, risky, but I thought it would be fun playing with this dynamic. I simply took James Cameron's TV series and slowly made it darker and darker and now it's plunging into new territory and mythology. I wanted this season to be darker than the rest because it's a lot more new stories lines and characters. When season five comes, that's when the ratings come into play, whether I'm going to stretch the series even further and enter the sixth season. But no worries right now, for you have plenty more season four episodes to R&R&R loll (read, review, rate) loll Enjoy.

**DARK ANGEL**

**The Complete Fourth Season**

Episode 7

"Under Your Skin"

* * *

**Previously on Dark Angel,**

Now that Max is back in Seattle kicking ass, a new enemy rises. X63 and Sierra work together to take down the Transgenic's and bring forth the end of the world. Also, a strong power is awakened in Terminal City named the "Council", which goes against anything Max believes in. This year is the most personal challenge she has ever had to face as the power struggle only increases. During last week's confrontation, Max accidentally ingested fatal blood from a creature, striking worry that something dangerous might happen

* * *

"...If I had to say one thing about Transgenics, I would say their disgusting." One man said, being interviewed on the side of the street. Marcus Reed walked up and down the street, asking numerous questions to people about the Transgenics and how they feel. It was for his newest story that was coming out for this October's issue. New World Weekly was demanded a better story from him or he would be fired. Marcus figured by using his persuasive abilities, he would be able to get a good story in print by Thursday.

Another woman with strong facial features and a fur coat looked into the camera. "Transgenics are nice to have around. Just think about it, having someone who is anything. I can tell you now when we're going to need the Transgenics mostly. When those European's strike war against us for money, the government is going to wish they kept them." she said, walking away from the camera.

A homeless man begged to differ. "They took my home! That abandoned city was a good place to hide from those cops. Wait, is this going to be on TV?" he asked. Marcus looked into the camera and hooked a microphone below his mouth.

"Yes, the city of Seattle has many opinions about the Transgenics. Will there ever be a Government action to finally get rid of them? Only time will tell. For now, we only hope that something will be done." he muttered, smiling and waiting for Lauren to turn off the camera. She had her dark hair lying on her shoulders and wore a light, brown leather jacket. Complementing her tight, baby blue jeans was a black belt around her waist.

"Perfect!" she jumped for glee, hugging Marcus. "You're definitely keeping your job."

"You think it was good? I thought this subject would bring a lot more readers and reviews." Marcus explained. He grabbed his camera and they headed towards the New World Weekly building.

"This will be high up the charts." she said. "We're talking global panic about those Transgenics."

--

A week had passed since Max's last confrontation with that creature. She had just gotten home from a nice long jog to clear her mind about things. She entered the apartment and sat down on her chair, flipping through papers from the Archives. Last night, she had gone searching through information in the Archives, trying to locate stuff on Elena. Someone had to create her the way she was. Someone with a genius mind like Sandeman must have unleashed her, maybe even more. She did mention that there was more than just one of her.

Looking through the Archives was useless. There was nothing about Elena and the creatures like her. "Damn it!" she shouted. Alec opened the apartment door and waved.

"What's wrong, Maxie?" he asked. "Do cheer up." Alec entered the kitchen and opened the fridge, looking for a bottle of beer. He twisted the cap open and chugged the first quarter, leaning on the breakfast table, looking in on the living room. Max had a little fire burning away in the man-made fireplace in the back to keep the apartment room. October had quickly approached and it was starting to get colder. Alec sipped a little more and glanced back at Max, seeing through her frustration. "Oh come on! We've been best of pals for two years now. How about we sit down and exchange conversational words."

Max ignored Alec's ranting and continued to look at the parchment pages from the Archives. "Don't you knock?" she asked. Alec finished the beer and grabbed another one. He walked over to her and looked at the documents.

"You're a feisty one, Max. Do you need any help? Sara's with her friends for the day talking about mother stuff. I thought that maybe I should run some errands, catch up on some juicy gossip that's circling around the gang." he said, but Max wasn't in the mood to talk to Alec at the moment. She was too busy studying like she always was, looking for answers that she didn't have.

"Alec, don't you see that I'm doing something. If you want to do something helpful, you can look through the Archives for me." Max replied, resting her head on her arm.

"I see you're growing your hair longer." Alec noted. "Looks better than the haircut you had last year. I like the side bang you have going, brings out your eyes."

Max could see right through his phoney exterior. "What do you want?" questioned Max. "I'll do anything for you to leave me alone."

"I just want to be in the loop of things. I haven't heard from any of you for a long time now. I want it to be like old times." Alec spoke with sensitivity in his voice. Before he could touch Max's arm, Logan knocked on the door to the apartment. She shouted for him to enter and so he did. Logan had spiked his hair with gel and was wearing really sexy clothes. Max turned to face him, her eyes glowing, meeting his gaze. Logan stepped up to her, reaching for her arm, kissing her hand. She loved that she could call Logan her boyfriend now. Four years had almost passed and no commitment. Finally, she got what she longed to have. All her work paid off in the past and now they were together, hopefully forever.

"Nice to see you, Logan" Max greeted him, eyeing his scar above his eyebrow. She cocked her head to the side and smiled. "Hurt yourself?" she hinted. Logan was lost in thought until he remembered his scar above his left eyebrow.

"Oh, yeah, that cut. I was with Matt Sung actually. We were hitting up another lead to an Eyes Only case we're working on. Matt wanted me to say that he misses working with you guys." Logan muttered, still not answering her question, but Max thought it was better left untouched. Logan didn't want to tell her anything about -i-Corp's mastermind behind all the genetically altered creatures roaming the streets. After reading information about -i-Corp last night, he figured that all of -i-Corp's subjects should have a distinct marking on their hand.

"I heard you fought some creature a week ago. Are you okay from the fight?" he asked. Max twisted her arm from left to right and looked back at Logan.

"All better, she had a pretty good arm on her I might add. Erinn helped me fight off razor bitch, but something happened. When she stabbed her, some blood dripped in my mouth. I've been doing some research about the blood that she carried and how it might mingle with mine if ever in contact with each other. It seems to me that Sandeman never wrote down any of this stuff to do with these creatures. I mean, who ever created them?" she asked, slamming the pages back down on the table. Logan sat down beside her and decided to tell her about his recent doings. But then he waited, hesitating was more like it. Should he tell her what he was doing? Even though this could potentially put her danger? Logan sucked it up and looked Max into the eyes.

"Max, I need to tell you something." he said. "The reason why I've been missing lately is because I'm working on a certain case."

Max placed her hand on his shoulder and smiled. "Logan, don't tell me what you're doing. Whatever it is, I know it's important to you and that's what I like to know. In this relationship, we should have our own lives, keeping separate from one another. Do what you go to do but always come home back to Me." she comforted. He stretched a large smile across his face and looked over to Alec, who was grossed out from all the affection.

"Blah, Blah, Blah, can we just save that for when I'm not around?" asked Alec. Max laughed, while nudging Alec in the shoulder, but to her surprise, he went flying across the apartment. After hitting the drywall, his body slumped to the ground. Max was in shock, how did she do that?

"I hardly even touched him!" she shouted, analyzing her hand. Logan's eyebrow arched high.

"I guess we've found a side-effect of the blood mix." Logan replied, both of them in awe and Alec in pain.

**DARK ANGEL**

Asha-bot walked over to her new apartment's table, stiffly sitting down upon a wooden chair. Holding a camera, she twisted open the cap to pull a small little tape, holding great amounts of footage. For the past month, she had been filming Max and her friends, orders from General Boyd. She was given all the memories from the real Asha when she was killed. You see, General Boyd wanted someone in the close fold of Max's life so that they could see everything that was going on; every move they were going to plan. The Asha-bot was carefully constructed, very well trained in combat, and looked exactly like a human. The little trick Boyd used was to use the previous Asha's skin to stretch over. During the course of the three months she was missing, General Jack Boyd made a plan to make everyone believe that Asha had been visiting her parents.

She lifted the tape and a menacing smile formed. "Gotha." she said, walking over to the TV. She was about to place the tape into the machine, until someone knocked on her door. Asha hesitated, but quickly grabbed her gun from the bottom left drawer in her cabinet. Passing her rather large bed, she slid slowly on the soft carpet. She was only wearing a long shirt to cover both her robotic chest and half her legs. While leaning against the wall, almost shimming down the hallway, Asha pointed the gun at the door. "Who is it?" she called.

"It's me, Renee."

Asha put her gun down, anticipating that it was going to be Max. She opened the door to let Renee enter, showing her around. "Nice seeing you." she lied. Renee pushed her long hair back and used a clip to keep away the side bang.

"Yes same. I have a question for you." she noted. Asha was starting to get nervous, wondering if Renee knew something about her.

"Depends," Asha hinted. "What do you want to know?" asked Asha, pulling a pocket knife slowly out of her bra. Renee looked around her surroundings and back at Asha.

"Do you have a whisk?" questioned Renee. Asha dropped the knife and smiled. "Its Thanksgiving today and I wanted to make something special for everyone. I kind thank you for letting me be in the fold and try to take down -i-Corp. You're more than welcome to come for dinner tonight. It's going to be at Original Cindy's place. I think Logan's coming, Linsay, Joshua, of course Max. You should come, it would be nice having everyone there." she replied. Asha thought that this was a good plan to watch everyone during dinner.

"I would be delighted." Asha said, leading Renee to the kitchen to grab the whisk and headed towards the door. "Nice seeing you, Renee. I look forward to tonight's dinner." she said, pushing her out of the apartment and shutting the door. Asha leaned against the door and thought of how that was such a close call. Suddenly, her phone rang. She pressed a button and answered to the man on the other side. "Yes, I'm in. Dinner tonight will be very interesting, sir."

--

On the other side of Seattle, Sara had been visiting Cindy's restaurant. She was looking bigger than ever and was starting to need her pills again. Sweat slowly trickled down her forlorn face as she dug for her container of white pills in her purse. Pain began to increased, the room felt as though it was extremely heated. Sara started to panic, scanning the restaurant for her pills. Nothing around her looked like a contained full of medication. She dumped her purse onto the wooden floor, scattering all the make-up and necessities. Original Cindy ran over to her and handed her the contained medication in the small orange bottle. "There right here, Boo." she spoke watching Sara chucking the pills into her mouth. Cindy could notice the quick change in her features when the pills were swallowed down.

"Thank you," Sara muttered, lifting up off the ground. "I was starting to feel the heat inside of me. When I reach that part, it doesn't mean good."

"Girl, you need to get your act in order. I don't want to walk on in here and see you burnt to a crisp on the ground. I don't want my restaurant smelling like extra-crispy Sara, bad for customers." Cindy laughed. Sara sat back down on a stool with her arms resting on the bar counter. Cindy stood behind the counter, grabbing a bottle of red wine from the rack. "One or two glasses?"

"The bottle" Sara whispered. Max and Logan walked into the restaurant afterwards and Sara had just finished the bottle. She knew she couldn't drink when the kid was in her, but she needed something for the pain. Max took off her glasses and grabbed the glass of wine that Cindy had handed her. Suddenly, the glass shattered in her hand and the red wine splashed all over Cindy's white blouse.

"What in the hell was that?" Cindy complained. "That glass was one of my favourite pieces of that brand. I had to beat up a guy to get those shipped here!"

"Sorry about that." apologized Max. "I've been having that problem lately." she said, sitting beside Sara on a stool. Original Cindy whipped up a concoction of alcohol for her to drink.

"So, I guess you've found your side-effect, huh Boo?" Cindy replied. "Best be keeping your creepy ass, uber-strength away from my store and the china."

"Don't worry, I'll try and stay away from everyone until I figure out how to stop this virus. For some reason, the blood from that genetically altered woman last week has altered my own. By the looks of it, their blood doesn't mingle well with ours, I mean, Transgenics. I actually wanted to speak to Joshua, is he here?" Max questioned. Original Cindy shook her head.

"Nah, that doggy boy hasn't shown up for work in a week. I was starting to think he quit. If you don't mind, I need to go find something for Linsay. Her birthday is tomorrow and I wanted something special for her. Logan, could you watch the restaurant while I quickly look for a present?"

"Sure, I guess I could. Make sure you make it for dinner tonight. Renee's cooking a Thanksgiving dinner for all of us as a thank you." Logan reminded. Max was about to take a sip of the drink, but decided that she wouldn't, believing she might break something again. Original Cindy grabbed her purse and headed out the door. Max looked at Logan and frowned.

"How am I supposed to find out more about these genetically altered creatures, get this unknown blood out of my system and make it to dinner tonight? I don't think Thanksgiving dinner is really important right now. I mean, we've got lots more to think about, Logan. Just tell Renee that it was nice of her to think of that, but too much is happening." Max explained. Logan shook his head.

"No, Max. I'm sorry; I can't do that for you. Renee has been excited about tonight. She wanted to get to know you more and have everyone over for a nice dinner. She feels as though she needs to pay you guys for everything you've done for her. Please, just come to dinner after you figure out this blood problem." Logan insisted. Max's features lightened up and she smirked.

"For you and Renee and I will. I guess we all need a break once and awhile. So much has been happening I feel so overwhelmed." said Max.

"Don't worry; all will be better in time." Logan comforted. Max hugged him tightly, the thing this couple did best. He lightly kissed her on the cheek and smiled.

"I'm going to head off for a bit. The District Attorney's funeral is today and I wanted to go catch Erinn before it ends. I don't really do funerals, everybody sad, mourning this guy's life. If they only knew what killed him. I'm going to go talk with her; she should be almost done examining that woman's body. Catch you later?"

"I won't be leaving until dinner." insured Logan. Max left the restaurant, hopping on her bike and riding to the funeral ceremony. Max stood far away from all the people watching as the coffin sunk into the ground. People were crying, embracing one another for comfort. Yet another person has left this mortal realm and all they do is mourn. Max couldn't understand why they all just stood there and cried. Crying was useless in this situation. When she dies, Max wanted people to celebrate her life, sing, and dance. She didn't want them to mourn over her dead body because she was gone. While lost in serious thought, Erinn approached Max from behind.

"I almost thought you weren't going to show up." she said, looking ahead at the funeral service. "If you wanted to know, the forensic team at the FBI facility finished their report. They found unbelievable amounts of a protein substances circling through her veins. Whatever this green liquid is, it was powerful enough to alter your own abilities." Erinn explained. Max's eyes widened.

"Was this green substance bright, almost fluorescent?" she challenged. Erinn nodded her head in agreement.

"Yes, do you know about it?" asked Erinn. Max totally remembered that green substance that plagued her last year. First it was injected into Joshua's system by Sierra and the Red Robes, and then Asha was altering Logan's dreams with needles supplied to her from an unknown supplier. Yes, Max knew what this substance was capable of doing to her and the people around her. It was up to Max to finally put a stop to this green junk being used.

--

Original Cindy walked down the street, looking for Linsay's birthday present when she noticed the news was on from one of the stores windows. She stopped with a bunch of people, all hovering around this one TV screen. A news reporter had been asking people various questions about Transgenics. When Cindy heard what the people were saying, she got infuriated by all the remarks. People were listening all over the world, frowning upon Transgenics once again. Once she heard the news that Marcus and Lauren Reed created the story for the news, she charged to the New World Weekly building. The office was busy and much crowed, hard to step foot onto the floor. People were overly joyful over the success of the newest story done by the now famous couple. Lauren popped the bottle of champagne and the liquid came pouring out like a volcano. Marcus placed his cup underneath the exploding liquid, filling his glass to the top.

"This is a perfect way to begin Thanksgiving!" Marcus cheered. Lauren and the other staff members of the New World Weekly rejoiced. "I would like to make a toast to my lovely fiancé and her wonderful shared success with our paper. We're glad to announce that we're getting married in the summer of next year!" Everyone raised their glasses, taping them together. People were excited and thankful for everything on the eve of thanksgiving. Original Cindy entered the level and interrupted their celebration. A security guard tried to block her from entering any further, grabbing her arm.

"Sorry, Ma'am, but I need to ask you to leave. You're not allowed in here without a sector pass!" he demanded. The guard grabbed her arm, pulling her away from the crowd of people. Original Cindy tucked her purse behind her arm and slapped the guard.

"Don't be touching me boy or pain is coming to visit you." She threatened. He tried to grab her again until she kicked him in the crouch. Marcus and Lauren turned around and faced Cindy who stood strong by herself. The room suddenly turned silent when they all stared at her and the guard rolling on the ground.

"Who are you?" asked Lauren. Original Cindy smiled, waving her arms.

"Someone you don't want to piss off. I'm afraid it's already too late for that. I just watched your disgusting story about Transgenics, asking citizens those questions. I've been friends with these people for longer than I can remember. I will tell you right now that they are the same as you guys. Wait, let me reword that. They are 10 times better than you people. I've had to suffer, watching people like you degrade Transgenics, trying to turn others against them. I'm sick and tired of listening to that b.s!" Cindy said. Lauren shook her head.

"Their monsters lady" Lauren snorted. Cindy straightened her posture.

"And the only thing you guys have to be thankful for is that you still have legs to walk on." Cindy dared to threaten. Marcus frowned, realizing the error in his ways, but no remorse for Lauren. Cindy walked over the guard on the ground, leaving everybody in a sour mood on thanksgiving. She entered the elevator with a smile across her face.

--

Renee prepared the rest of the dinner with Linsay's help, chopping the vegetables, boiling the potatoes, roasting the turkey. While stirring in the quarter cup of brandy into the candied yams, Renee turned around to greet Asha, who was coming into the apartment. "Hello the two of you. I'm just going to use the bathroom." she said, walking into the room. Renee smiled and opened the oven to check on the turkey she scored. Two days ago, she won the turkey during a game of cards and now is cooking it for everyone. Asha opened the bathroom door and closed it behind, making sure it was locked. Digging in her pocket, she found a small little device. This device was used to place cameras all around the area, filming conversations and peoples actions.

"Done." she whispered, putting everything back into a make-up bag she was holding and stiffly walked out of the door. Just as she walked into the living room, people were starting to arrive. Original Cindy and Sara entered the apartment, placing their jackets on the rack nailed to the wall.

"It smells so good." Sara said, smiling at Renee. She turned around while chopping the carrots.

"Thanks!" she said. Asha sat down and greeted everyone entering the apartment. When everyone was finally rested, Max came barging into the apartment. Renee stood up, flabbergasted.

"Max, what's wrong?" she questioned. Max charged towards Asha, grabbing her neck and slamming her against the wall near-by. Everyone backed away, watching as Max choked Asha even more.

"Who the hell are you!" she demanded an answer. Logan came running in afterwards, pulling her away from Asha. Max turned around and punched him in the face, causing blood to drip down his cheek. Asha was slammed against the wall again.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" shouted Asha. Max was infuriated that this imposture was in watching them for the past couple of days. She wanted answers and wanted them now. Max tightened her grip upon Asha's neck.

"Don't you dare lie to me or your skull will become a decoration." Max threatened. Original Cindy moved closer to listen to the conversation.

"Max! What the hell is happening?" asked Sara. Max pushed Asha against the wall even harder, cracking the dry wall. With all the strength that Max was given since the blood entered her system, it was helping. Asha stretched a menacing smiled across her pale face, grabbing Max's arm back. With the flick of her wrist, Max fell to the floor.

"Great, this wasn't supposed to happen yet." Asha said, cracking her neck back into place. Logan helped Max back off the floor, while Alec embraced Sara. Max regained her posture and kicked Asha against the same old wall.

"Get out of my house before I kill you this time." Max said. Asha tried to fight back, but with the aid of Max's new abilities, she twirled around once, kicking Asha straight out the window. Everyone watched as Asha fell to the hard cement. Her body was broken and twisted, bent in different positions. Dead silence plagued the apartment as all the friends stood and glared at Asha's body on the cement.

"What the hell just happened?" asked Cindy. Max turned around, tucking her hair into a tie.

"Asha isn't who you thought she was. Thank God for Logan's useful servalence cameras. They caught Asha numerous times, placing her own spy cameras around the house. She was also seen talking with someone on the phone. When enhancing the speakers on the surveillance camera, we heard that she was talking to General Jack Boyd." Max explained. Sara shook her head.

"So wait a second, Asha has been playing us all since she came back?"

"Yes and she's been working for -i-Corp." Max replied. Everyone was shocked on this thanksgiving eve. They could all hardly eat the wonderful dinner that Renee had cooked for them. They were all filled with knowledge that came so quickly, that couldn't sink in as of yet. All of the gang except Joshua and Erinn sat around the table, sipping their drinks quietly and nibbling on the turkey, silently.

Down where Asha had fallen, shattered glass had torn through her skin, exposing the metal plate that formed her face. A red light flicked on and beamed through her iris in the left eye. She was still alive, wanting revenge.

To be continued..............................

_Sorry everyone for the late update, it was thanksgiving and all. Happy thanksgiving to everyone, hope you enjoyed and had a wonderful weekend!_

**Appearances:**

Max

Logan

Cindy

Alec

Sara

**Guest Starring:**

Erinn

Renee Hart

Marcus Reed

Lauren Benello

Asha-bot

Linsay Gomez


	8. Episode 8: Blood Lust

**Readers Note: **I know, I know, yell at me now. I am so sorry for such a long two week hiatus. I wanted to really plan through the season and make sure all the episodes fall into place for the ending. Plus, there is something really big going down in a couple of episodes that will change Seattle forever!!! I hope y'all like this episode; I think it's a really important episode for season four's storyline. Also, don't forget to rate this episode out of ten!!! Thanks! Another thing, I wanted to have a Halloween episode this year but there was no spot to squeeze in one. But I will make sure the final season will have a Halloween episode!

**DARK ANGEL**

**The Complete Fourth Season**

Episode 8

"Blood Lust"

* * *

Renee and Logan sat at his desk, looking through police files about certain -i-Corp soldiers. To Renee, searching through these files meant everything to her. Laura and William Hart were the best parents she could have ever asked for; however he was at work longer than home. She could remember past memories of when she was a child, hanging with her parents. Around the time the pulse had just struck, Renee and her mother had gone to the ice cream store. There, they shared their most cherished mother and daughter moment. Renee will never forget that day, ever.

When flipping through more dusty files that Matt Sung had given them, she threw them down with force. "Logan, this isn't getting us anywhere!" she shouted. After jumping off her chair, Renee walked into the kitchen and opening the fridge.

"Things like this take time and patience." Logan comforted. Renee scattered through the left over take-out to find the last remaining bottle of beer. With the twist of the cap, the bottle popped open. Taking a rather large sip, she sat on the kitchen counter next to his wooden chopping board.

"Well it's too bad I don't have the right amount of patience needed. I'm sorry if I want to crack this case as soon as possible. Living with this thought in my head that my parent's murder was never brought to justice is stressful. I don't know how much longer I can take this without going nuts." Renee explained. "In a brighter topic, how are you and Max doing? Shaking it up in the sack yet?" she giggled while sipping her beer. Logan leaned back on his chair, stretching his arms. Most of all, he was stalling. Logan didn't know how to answer that question. He couldn't help but think that he was the worst boyfriend in the world. They hadn't had any sex in a couple of weeks, haven't talked to each other in a couple of days and since the virus has been defeated, they haven't been making an effort of making up for that lost year. "Woman trouble eh?" she continued.

"Is it that obvious?" Logan embarrassed to ask. Renee nodded her head smiling.

"It's okay, I would think it would be normal for an odd couple like you too." said Renee. Logan's brow arched, confused. "I mean because she's not exactly the same, you know what I'm saying?"

"I know, it's hard but I think it will work. It better work. I've longed for this longer than I can remember." Logan muttered. Renee's light bulb appeared above her head.

"Ask her over for dinner tonight!" she suggested. Logan thought that was a great idea.

"Do you think that would really work?" he asked. Renee nodded her head.

"Of course it will. Every woman loves a great meal prepared by their man. Trust me, Logan. Your cooking is good enough to impress her." Renee complimented. "Just ask her over tonight. I will make sure everything is taken care of about Asha. She's out there somewhere, probably watching us. Luckily enough all her spy-cams were destroyed." Renee said. Logan agreed, standing up from his chair. He was so enlightened that he could stand up with those legs braces. Not only were his legs working on their own now (slowly), he was able to walk a long distance.

"Thanks, Renee. You're a big help." He said. Logan led Renee to the front door and waved good-bye as she left the apartment, walking to the exit staircase. Logan shut the door and leaned against the unstable, wooden door. He missed his old apartment with the elevator and red walls. _Dinner sounds great _he reassured himself. After thinking, he headed towards the kitchen.

--

Lauren sat at her desk in the New World Weekly office, eating left-over dinner. While suffering the net about their latest news report on Transgenics, people had seemed to have given her a rating out of ten. She was slightly depressed from all the activity and publicity stunts. Marcus wasn't leaving his bedroom after what happened between Original Cindy and them. Confronting them like that was uncalled for, Lauren thought. She rested her head upon her right palm, only closing her eyes for a second.

Before she dosed off into dreamland, Tim Howard (her boss) approached Lauren. His hair was always greased with gel and of a darker shade. His taste in clothing was average, not exactly impressing. "Lauren, congratulations are in order." he said shaking her hand. Lauren faked her smile and closed the internet tab.

"Thank you sir, Marcus and I thought you would enjoy that news report. It took us some time but we were happy to actually put the project together in time." she explained. Tim nodded his head, holding files of the newest issues.

"I got even greater news for you, Lauren. I got an email from Susan Rienne from that TV show, asking for you to answer some questions over a live broadcast!" he shouted. Lauren jumped off her seat.

"You're kidding me!" she yelled, hugging Tim. "When is the interview supposed to happen?"

"Well, you have a meeting with Susan tomorrow and I guess it all starts from there. I'm so proud of you two, a definite successful earning." Tim mentioned, leaving the office area. "By the way, could you lock up before you go?" he asked. Lauren nodded her head and sat back down at her cubicle. What the hell was she thinking? Lauren couldn't go more public with this report. She was going to become a serious target.

Lauren got off from her seat and turned off her computer. While shutting down the lights and locking the office room door, she approached the elevator. As the doors opened, Helen Lorenzo appeared on the other-end, painting a fake smile upon her olive skin. Lauren entered just before the sliding doors shut. "Ms, Benello, so glad to see you before day-end. I wanted to congratulate you on your success from the transgenic report. I thought you and Marcus did a fabulous job writing and presenting. Here I was thinking you were fired." she cheerfully added with a wink. Lauren smiled, hiding her bitter feelings towards Helen.

"Thank you from both of us!" Lauren said. She twiddled her thumbs constantly, watching as red numbers slowly decreased to the lowest level.

"Well, that's my stop," Helen noted, wrapping her bag around her shoulder. "I will be talking to you soon, good night."

When Helen left the elevator, Lauren exhaled, finally relaxing. Helen had been a constant pain in everybody's side since the first day of her career. Yes, she was a great reporter; in fact, she won numerous awards for her column in the New World Weekly as well. Once the elevator came to a screeching halt, Lauren was knocked out of thought. Upon exiting the elevator, Lauren entered the underground parking lot, where her black, shiny car was located. Digging for car keys in her jacket pocket, she had become distracted. Suddenly, lifting her head above, she was startled. Sierra Lakefield stood in front of her, holding a large piece of wood.

"You scared me!" Lauren deeply said, trying vastly to catch her breath. Sierra tilted her head to the left and unexpectedly hit Lauren on the side of the head. She lay on the concrete with Sierra dragging by her feet to a van parked in the middle of the run-way. Sierra made her way down Seattle towards an alleyway that connected into the underground tunnels of sector five. Approaching a large wall with green numbers painted across, she passed two men spraying graffiti. Turning around, they noticed her dragging Lauren along the glassy pavement.

"Dude, she's kidnapping that girl." one guy mentioned, nudging his friend. The other was too drunk to even see straight, trying to regain his sight. The two men continued to spray the walls as Sierra walked further into the darker tunnel, quickly fading from the bald one's vision. Sierra reached her destination- a large domain-like room with leaking pipes and slimy walls. She let go of Lauren's arm and she slumped to the ground.

"I got your little snack. Why do you even want her anyways?" Sierra asked dusting her hands off. X63 emerged from the shadows examining his newest little toy. Lauren began to regain some of her consciousness, worrying Sierra.

"Isn't she miraculous?" X63 asked. Sierra arched her eyebrows and crossing her arms.

"She doesn't seem so special. Ever since you've seen her on the news, you've been so transfixed. Again I asked why she's so special to you."

"Questions that will have complete answers in a couple of hours. I first need to experiment with her. This lady has something special about the blood that flows through her veins. I've never smelt anything life it before. I could smell her from a mile away. A delicious one she is but I need to understand why." explained X63 gently caressing Lauren's cool cheek. Sierra didn't exactly understand anything he was saying, but at least he was working for her. The time will come when she will take a stand and control him fully for something bigger than last year. X63 smiled, picking Lauren up in his arms. His bright green eyes fixated on the weakened woman. "I will know soon, my child."

**DARK ANGEL**

When the morning sun kissed the skies with unbelievable sienna's and gold's, so had Original Cindy. She awoke from her deep slumber, ready to open the restaurant. Linsay was going to meet up during her lunch break. The District Attorney's old office was still being run even after his death. The people of Washington were running an election over the next two weeks for the newest District Attorney. Washington had been pretty shaken up from D.A Gordon's death. People were calling it a murder from one of the transgenic's. The main question that popped into people's head was the unbelievable strength the person had to have to tear his ribcage completely out. It still gave Cindy chills thinking about the whole situation and now Max was suffering a side-effect. Somehow, the creature's blood was running through her Manticorian blood flow.

Pulling her baby blue shirt over her dark skin, Cindy looked in the mirror. Between pictures of friends and her, stickers and writing remain her beautiful reflection. This reflection of hers she totally admired to the fullest. Cindy felt gifted that she was proud of the way she looked. Cindy didn't mean to be snotty but she loved who she was, the way she looked. Most of all, she loved that she loved herself.

Gathering her stuff, she opened the door and headed out to the restaurant. She was finally starting to receive an elevating profit after her downfall last month. Ever since the break in from X63 and Sierra when her mother was visiting, made them loose a lot of customers; Including Joshua's little disappearing act startled her. Cindy hadn't been staying at home lately. Linsay set up a drawer and everything at her apartment for Original Cindy. She was happy that their relationship was increasingly getting a whole lot better.

Once approaching her restaurant and unlocking the doors, she heard a familiar voice, echoing from the nearest ally. Slowly tip-toeing over to the side, she heard Erinn whispering on the phone. To her surprise, she was talking to someone from her job. "...yes, I told you I will complete the task. It will take some time for me to get Max into the game." whispered Erinn on her cell. Original Cindy hid behind the wall, making sure Miss Erinn wasn't backing stabbing any of her friends. Suddenly, she clapped her cell off and headed towards the sidewalk. Cindy quickly pushed the door open and headed towards the bar-counter. "Cindy, there you are! I was looking for you to ask if you've seen Max." Erinn said playing with her nails. Original Cindy placed her purse upon the cool counter and arched her brow at Erinn.

"May I ask what for?"

"Sure, it's just for a little business involving my sector," Erinn mentioned. "The lieutenant wants Max to go through several challenges in order to pass their test."

"Test for what exactly?" Cindy curiously added. Erinn cleared her throat to speak loud and affirmative.

"I don't know what exactly their going to do with her, but Dean said he wanted her to go through some 'tests' before something." Erinn explained. "Boss's orders, O.C"

"I'm just watching out for my Boo. You know that girl."

--

Max headed towards Terminal City, approaching the large iron gates that stood before Terminal City's entrance. The Council was on the other side of the gate, almost tempting her to break through the iron. Things had changed ever since she disappeared for three months. Freak Nation had turned into history and the Council was digging their grave deeper with the way they were handling the situation. It was up to Max to restore the order and bring back balance between the Ordinaries and Transgenics. "Let me in!" demanded Max. Mole stood on the other side of the gate, smiling at Max.

"Now why would I do that? You're a disgrace to our people, you destroyed what we had going for us. The Ordinaries were going to kill us all because of you!" Mole explained.

"Cute" Max hissed. "Let me through or my boot will be going up your lizard ass!" she continued. Mole leaned on his rifle, interlocking her fingers together, almost like he was praying.

"Do you think you scare me, Max?" Mole challenged. She rolled her eyes, trying to open the gates.

"What's with all the questions? I saved your asses many times and I plan to continue to do so!" Max shouted. Mole slowly opened the Iron Gate and turned to his left to see Max by his side.

"I'm watching you." taunted Mole. Max smiled and walked passed him towards the darkened tunnel ahead.

"You do that, Mole." she said, entering Head Quarters. Passing by working employees of Head Quarters, she entered the Council's conference room, interrupting their meeting. Lilith snarled as she turned to face Max with anger.

"Do you know how to knock?" Lilith asked. "As you can see, we're within the middle of meeting."

Max turned to face Marcus Reed, who was seated across the room at the large marble table. His hair was a messy dirty, blond and his perfect tanned skin glistened in the penetrating light above. Fixing his glasses he stood at her arrival. "Aren't you busy cussing us on the media?" she asked. Marcus cleared his throat, not knowing how to reply. Yes, he did realize what he said was wrong and would do anything to take it back. With his posture straightened and courage rushing through his veins, he stood up to Max standing before him.

"I understand what I did was a little crude. I would do anything to take it back, but what's done is done. I came here asking for help. Last night, Lauren had been abducted from the New World Weekly building. I fear that she has been kidnapped by the mysterious 'blood sucker' on Seattle's streets." Marcus explained. Sarge crossed his arms, curious.

"Blood sucker?" he asked. Max listened closely.

"I was told to put a story together about Seattle's newest criminal who has been attacking carriers of rare blood types. I didn't get really deep into the investigation because before the District Attorney's death, he had cancelled anymore issues that continued the story I wrote." Marcus continued. "I pray to God that Lauren is safe and sound."

Max knew exactly who he was talking about. Seattle's newest Criminal was the one and only, X63. Since his return in Seattle, he has placed a reign of terror upon this population, slowly but surely depleting the number. Sucking the blood of rare blood types reenergized his man-made system. Someone hand crafted him to be this monster he was. "I think I know who you're talking about." Max answered. Lilith shook her head, slamming the table.

"Max! Leave the Ordinaries out of this! It will only create more chaos than last year with Sierra."

"He's already in the situation! Marcus has the right to know who has his girlfriend." Max noted. Marcus was confused.

"Tell me right now, who has Lauren?" he demanded an answer. Lilith sat back down and Sarge listened intently to what Max had to say.

"The rare blood snatcher is named X63; an enemy creation against the brethren of Transgenics. He threatens mankind and apparently, I was made to stop him." Max summarized. She took off her sunglasses and stared deep into Marcus's eyes. "We haven't found a solution in defeated him as of yet." she frowned. Lilith rolled her eyes.

"You must not tell anyone and if the New World Weekly finds out about X63, your head will be on my plate!" she threatened.

"They will never find out." Marcus pleaded. Max smiled.

"I will help you as much as I can. I don't know how much I can protect you and find Lauren. Last time X63 and I confronted each other, I was hit across the room like a rag doll." Max explained. "I'm still picking dry wall out of my clothes!" before they left the Council's room, Lilith grabbed Max's arm.

"Don't you mess up again." Lilith snapped. "If X63 kills Marcus and Lauren, everyone will find out about what he does. We must not have this exposed."

--

"....her scent is unbelievable!" X63 proclaimed, analyzing Lauren. She was chained to the stone wall of the Underground tunnel way underneath Seattle. 'Sector five' had been painted upon the moist wall in red spray paint. Lauren tried to break herself free from the chains, almost oddly echoing her life as a human. Lauren always depended on others to save her from situations. While heavily relying on her boyfriend Marcus to complete the story about Transgenics, she had felt suddenly guilty afterwards. Lauren needed to love herself; know that she was a strong individual. Her hair was dirty, the clothes on her body were ripped and she was in terrible pain. An exposed wound was infected down her lower back, sending shock waves of pain up and down her nerves. Salty tears descended from her enlarged, baby blue eyes.

"Please, stop what you're doing to me!" Lauren pleaded. "I beg of you." Sierra observed Lauren's suffering, the gut-wrenching pain that played the role of a catalyst in her frenzy. X63 was utterly amazed of Lauren's reactions to the pain he inflicted upon her body.

"Did you see that, Sierra?" X63 asked in amazement. "How she cries whenever her wound it touched. The human body works in very mysterious ways; ways in which I can't yet comprehend. I would like to study the body more than this." he mentioned. Sierra smiled.

"Finally, it's going to get bloody." she smiled.

"...but not her. She's too special to touch. I want someone that I can rip open, someone that no one cares about. I want to see and feel inside, underneath the skin; so many complex areas that tingle my imagination. Give me someone who is of no importance at all." X63 demanded. Sierra was starting to get irritated being asked to do his dirty work. She often juggled the thought that he should be revealing himself more often in the public, stirring chaos. It buzzed her inside to think of the chaos that was created last year by a single sentence. She had control of thousands, more than she ever expected. For the next time she would stand tall, she was aiming global.

--

Marcus and Max walked down the street, heading towards underground Sector paths. If one were to find X63's lair, it would be the underground tunnel ways. It was easy access, hard to navigate through and a villain's getaway. "....After this is done, I want you to know that Lauren and I are totally on your side. I've realized how much pain we have inflicted to you and the Transgenics over the last article we wrote. I do hope that you can forgive us for what we have done." Marcus genuinely added. Max smirked as she shone the beaming flashlight upon the darkness ahead of them. Walking past the Sector two, she scanned the area after hearing light whispering. Using her enhanced eye vision, she noticed two Sector police on patrol.

"Damn it," she whispered frustrated. "There are two Sector cops up ahead."

"Can't you just fight them?" he asked, mimicking various combat positions. Max scanned the ceiling, looking for any possible alternate routes to take. As much as she wanted to have a little action, one touch and the police would break their necks. Max didn't want to take that risk; not when she was juiced with green junk from -i-Corp.

"Well, unless you want me to kill them instantly, I think we should take the ceiling. There are ways of trucking through this underground dump from between." she said. Marcus started to laugh in amusement.

"Do this often?" he asked questioning the obvious.

"Ha-ha, very funny, now move your ass." she said trying to pull open the gated barrier between them and the upper, hidden level. Suddenly, with one little yank on the hard iron, Max broke it off, creating a loud echo in Sector two. The two Sector cops on patrol heard the loud noise and headed towards them to investigate.

"Great, stupid super-strength, I swear, one day it will get the best of me." Max noted pulling Marcus by one arm up through the hole in the ceiling. The two cops approached the area, scanning their surroundings. Max and Marcus watched from above, trying not to breathe as hard.

"I bet you one of them Transgenics is sneaking around here, trying to find rodents for dinner." one male said. His partner was a butch and big looking female with many piercings.

"You are what you eat." she coughed as they headed back to their patrol grounds. Max exhaled calmly and looked up to Marcus, whose heart was pounding fiercely every second. She could hear the loud beats, almost irritating. It seemed as though that the green junk that -i-Corp created was making her hear little noises louder now as well.

"That was close," he whispered. "Is this what you do every day?"

"Pretty much now come on." she nudged as the two crawled to the entrance of Sector three and then towards Sector four. After an hour of searching, there was still no sign of Lauren and X63. Max was starting to doubt that he made his lair in the underground tunnel way. While hopping down a ladder provided, they touched the moist surface of Sector five. She grabbed her cell phone from her pocket and dialled Logan's number. Impatiently waiting for her lover to pick up the phone the sound of his, low and calm voice answering would be very appealing.

"Max, I was worried about you. I haven't talked to you in a long time." Logan answered. "Where are you exactly?"

"Well, as the looks of it, I'm approaching the entrance of Sector five in the underground tunnels." Max said. Logan was curious, very curious in fact.

"I'm guessing you're on the job then." Logan challenged. With Renee by his side, she encouraged him to ask her out on a date. Logan wanted this to become second nature, asking her on a date seemed awkward at the moment. "Max, I have a question for you. How about dinner tonight? I'm cooking some fabulous chicken that I was able to get from a certain source and I wouldn't mind if you came over and shared it with me. I was thinking since we haven't talked in awhile, we should catch up, like old times." Logan explained. Max smiled and nodded her head. Marcus watched from behind her.

"Sure, I'm kind of getting hungry myself. Let me just finish up what I'm doing and I will be over for, let's say six?"

"Sounds great, I'll be waiting." Max hung up her cell phone and it fell into numerous, crumbled pieces.

"Oh son of a bit-" Marcus interrupted her by placing his finger upon her lips.

"Shh, I hear something coming from that hallway." he whispered, pointing to the wall with 'Sector five' spray painted along the side. Max jumped down the ladder and in a cat-like posture, she shimmed along the wall. Occasionally, she would tilt her head to get a glimpse of the tunnel ahead for any enemies. No one was there and she now signalled Marcus to follow behind. Stumbling down the ladder, he limped over to Max (who effortlessly glided across the nasty sewage water). Max was enlightened to see a grand opening up ahead, with a dome shaped ceiling. The room was similar to the place where she finished off Ames last year. Morbid memories began to resurface and it was hard to shake them away. To Marcus's surprise, he noticed Lauren chained to the wall, hardly awake. He ran over to her and lifted her cool face to meet his eyes. "Lauren, are you okay?" he asked. She nodded her head up and down then side to side.

"She's very weak; I think we should get her out of here pronto." Max said, helping him break the chains and freeing Lauren from the wall. When turning to the exit, X63 stood in front of Max with a grin stretched across his menacing face.

"At last we meet again, 452." he said lifting his arm and smacking her across the room with such force. Max lifted from the ground and flew towards the stone wall. Quickly regaining her ability to stand, she charged towards her opponent with agility unlike his own. X63 stood still, calmly waiting for his next move. Reaching out, he suddenly grabbed Max's neck, even during her ultimate speed. Lifting her above the ground once again seemed effortless on his part. Max struggled to break free from his grip and watched Marcus and Lauren hide in the back from the corner of her eye. "Why must we always confront each other such as this?" he asked. Max began to cough, loosing oxygen. With a raise of her body, she was able to break free, using his chin as a kick-off in her backwards flip. X63 was pushed back by her foot, losing his concentration. She threw a punch and another punch at X63, which he was able to block as usual. A kick to his side did no damage what so ever, making Max feel uneasy.

"Great, my juiced up blood has to wear off now." she complained as he threw her across the room again. Landing upon the stone floor, her forehead cut open. Blood leaked causing X63's senses to arouse. His bloodlust for Lauren's blood was large and he was now fixated on the two, innocent humans. His eyes glowing green, his veins craving her lustful blood. Sierra stood behind a stone pillar, watching intently from behind. Marcus stood in front of Lauren and confronted X63 in his path of bloodlust.

"Don't you dare touch Lauren you monster!" Marcus shouted in an authoritative tone. X63 smiled, admiring Marcus's will to survive.

"You're a strong man, Marcus. I like you." X63 stated. Suddenly, he grabbed Marcus by the shirt and smashed his head into a pillar near-by. "But not good enough."

Max needed to protect Lauren from X63 and the only way to do that was to fight him once again. She was useless against him in combat. All her Manticore blood wasn't good enough for what X63 had running up and down his veins. The blood lust was strong, making him even more impossible to hurt. He grabbed Lauren off the ground and smelt the air around her. "Fresh blood," he sighed. "The most perfect smell of dinner." Before he could lay another finger upon her, Max came in from the side, punching him out of the way. X63 moved back, providing enough space for Max to snatch Lauren and Marcus. They headed towards the exit, running to the ladder. X63 charged to catch up to Max and Lauren until suddenly, Sierra tripped him with her foot, letting everyone else escape. The extreme bash to the floor caused the old, stone walls to crack. Throwing Max around the place, the walls started to give in. Sierra smiled, running away from the cascading stones. X63 was buried deep beneath heavy stones and Sierra got away. Her plan was to finish her end game alone; X63 was becoming a problem.

Max looked back and wiped the blood off her cheek. No one was following them and it was a great time to head out of Sector five and towards the surface. "Come on, let's get out of here!" Max said. Lauren relied on Marcus to carry her the rest of the way, for she was too weak to walk. Upon reaching the top, Max took a deep breath. Being thrown around like that again was really a punch in her mural. If she was going to defeat X63, it was going to take a lot of strength, maybe too much to handle.

Hours passed by and Sara ate her dinner at the table. With no one beside her, she drank a lone glass of wine. She really didn't care that the baby wasn't supposed to have alcohol near-by. Suddenly, with a whip of her arm, the wine glass shattered against the dry wall. Sara was frustrated and alone that night. It was the anniversary of Alec and Sara meeting each other. Alec had left the house early that morning to go to Crash with some buddies. For the thousandth time, she pondered alone. How was she going to raise this baby alone when it was going to be a freak like her? All she wanted was her baby to be normal, have a normal life, and have normal friends. The baby was cursed to have the life she lived; being tested, always running. With all these problems piled on top of her, she sunk her head in between her arms. For too long, she held in her tears, but now it was time. Sara's face turned red and she began to exhale deeply, realizing her life ahead. Tears poured down her forlorn face as she screamed in fear for her baby and her fiancé, crying like she had never before.

Meanwhile, Original Cindy read a magazine and drank her coffee. "... So this X63 bitch is supposed to be all tough?" she asked perking her lips. Max stood behind her bedroom door, changing into numerous different outfits. She wanted it to be perfect for when she saw Logan that night.

"I've fought this _thing _in battle twice now and I can't even damage him. Something's up with this." she complained while zipping her back up in the dress. Cindy pondered.

"Well let me at'em. I'd probably pound his lab ass. You know what I'm sayin boo?"

"No, O.C, you can't go anywhere near this dude. He's straight up about what he's doin," Max replied. "Besides, he would kick your black ass anytime."

Cindy began to laugh. "Mhm." Max walked out of her bedroom and smiled at Cindy.

"What do you think?" she asked. Original Cindy turned around and her jaw dropped.

"Damn girl, you know how to clean up!" said Cindy.

--

At Logan's, Max sat at his breakfast bar, awaiting the special dinner her cooked. Everything was perfect, her clothes, the music and the fancy wine. If anything were to happen between them, it was going to be that night. Max waited a long time for this one. The romantic dinners that had were always a special treat. Logan entered the kitchen with a wooden bowl and some lettuce from the fridge. The two tore lettuce into the bowl while socializing about their day.

"So, you took some beatings today, huh?" questioned Logan as he poured thick, balsamic sauce on top of the salad. Max blushed and tucked her hair behind her ears.

"I'm better now and Lauren's doing fine. Marcus brought her home and cleaned her up. They didn't visit the hospital so the media wouldn't find out about what happened." Max explained. "I guess for now they are going to be living low. I think Lauren is a little scared about what lingers in the dark."

"I see, once exposed to the darkness, you never will be the same. I was like the time when the pulse hit America. I remember that night being the scariest night I have ever lived. Even though my family weren't really affected by the happening, I thought the world was going to end." Logan said.

"Aren't you glad it didn't?" he asked. Max stretched a wide smile, revealing her pearly white teeth.

"Totally because I wouldn't be here with you if it did." The stood stopped and gave each other a long, flirtatious grin.

--

In the underground tunnels, the rocks that buried X63 began to move and suddenly he broke free. Now angered, he left Sector Five with intentions on ending Max's live, starting with her friends.

To be continued....

_HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!! ~ I HOPE IT'S A SCARY ONE! (:_

**Appearances **

Max

Logan

Cindy

Alec

Sara

**Guest Starring:**

Renee

Erinn

Marcus

Mole

Lauren

X63

Sierra

Lilith

Sarge

Helen Lerenzo

Tim Howard (First appearance)


	9. Episode 9: See No Evil

**Readers Note: **Okay, so this is what happened. I wrote an episode that I thought was going to be a good turning point. After getting to the end of the episode, I realized there was no good way to end it without any problems. So, I decided to write the episode after that one, so I wouldn't let you guys down. The episode I wrote will come in later, but it will be very revised. I hope you enjoy this episode, I wanted to show how Max's abilities are getting stronger.

**DARK ANGEL**

**The Complete Fourth Season**

Episode 9

"See No Evil"

* * *

Crash was very busy that night; it was the annual beer festival. This event had the people of Seattle buying and drinking as much beer as they can and party all night long. This raised money for scientists to cure one of the world's most dangerous diseases, cancer. Max squeezed between dancing couples and large bodyguards carrying to jugs of fresh, cool beer. It was so cold, the condensation dripped down her fingers; beer delight. Approaching the gang, she placed the large jugs of beer upon the table. Original Cindy slapped a five-dollar bill beside her and poured her glass to the top. "I love this night. All the beer drinking we can do!" she said sipping her glass. Max tried to hear her friend over the loud, drumming music. Linsay sat beside Cindy with her arm wrapped around her waist. "And I get to spend it with my girlfriend." Cindy smiled. Max turned to find her boyfriend amongst the crowds of roaring people. He stood at the far end with Alec, chatting away the night. She was surprised that they started to get along again. Now that he was with Sara and Logan was with her, their friendship had officially started. On the other hand, Sara was by herself at home. She decided not to spend the night with them at Crash and just sleep. Anyways, she couldn't drink anything with the baby growing inside of her.

"...When's the last time you've talked to Sara?" asked Logan sipping his glass of beer. Alec shrugged his shoulders leaning against the bar.

"I don't even remember, we kind of decided to have time apart for a bit. We can't stay in the same room with each other without fighting. Man, that is not a good sign. I use to think I had it with the ladies when it came to using the charm." Alec explained. "I guess I can't do it anymore now that I'm engaged."

Logan laughed at Alec's frown. "If you love someone very much, it shouldn't matter if you can or not." he said looking over his shoulder towards Max. The couple had been sharing mesmerizing stares at each other all night, dancing around the idea to dance. Alec examined the two lovebirds staring at each other frequently.

"Just ask her dance already!" he said nudging Logan's side with his elbow. "You guys have been giving each other doe eyes all night. Get off your ass and talk with her. Max is a fine woman; she isn't going to be waiting for you that long of a time. Before you know it, she will be jumping the next ship that passes her by." Alec explained.

"You really think so?" Logan questioned with his fingers playing around the glass.

"I know so, all women are the same. If they don't get what they need from their partner they switch and leave you hanging. I've experienced many of these problems one being as we speak. Sara is just complicated at some times and I guess she can't handle the fact that her baby dangers her life."

"I think you should just give Sara sometime to be with herself and heal. On the other hand, I think I'm going to ask Max for that dance. We've never really been able to dance since my accident and the wheelchair came in between." Logan said. Over the other end of Crash, Max and Original Cindy were having a similar conversation. While Linsay and Cindy drank away, Max stared at Logan from afar. She juggled the choice to go and ask him if he wanted to dance or not. She was careful with anything she did that involved them. Anything could ruin their fragile relationship that has been slowly increasing.

"I'm going to go ask if he wants to dance. A fair song is on at the moment, it might not be awkward." Max spoke.

"Wouldn't you like throw him across the room with your super-strength?" Linsay asked. Max shook her head.

"Not any more, for some reason the super-strength wore off. I guess the blood that creature gave me wasn't powerful enough to give me a longer effect." Max explained.

"Well than go ask him to dance girl! Damn, you need to tear his pants off and do some working.," laughed Cindy sipping her beer. Max finally got the balls to stand up and head towards Logan to ask him to dance. The crowd of dancing folk was getting larger and harder for her to move pass them to head to Logan chatting with Alec. Before she could get to him, a woman with dark, black hair stood beside him. She tapped his shoulder with her bony index finger and smiled when he turned to glance at her pale face. Max stood alone, sinking into the crowd as the woman beside Logan grabbed his attention away from her. She was a pretty girl with a killer figure. She smiled and hugged Logan with two large embracing arms. Max analyzed from behind a dancing couple. They rejoiced each other like old time friends; they had to know each other.

"Andrea!" Logan shouted ending his hug with her. "How are you? I haven't seen you since..."

"Since senior year of High School." Andrea said helping him fill in the blanks of their memory together. "I have to say wow because you have changed since the last time I saw you. You are a lot more built and firmer." she giggled. Max growled at Andrea's flirtatious charm and wit. Examining the way Andrea dressed, she was a lot more classy than Max. She was wearing a purple blouse with a pearl necklace wrapped around her elongated neck. A pair of dressy, black pants covered her skinny legs. Tilting her head down, Max stared at her baggy pants and torn shirt covered with a dark, green vest. Weighing the odds, Max was a long shot of winning this battle against Andrea. "...Aren't you going to introduce me to your handsome friend over here?" Andrea challenged throwing her charm over to an engaged man.

"My name is Alec." he said smiling back. Andrea winked to the twinkle in Alec's eyes. She loved a strong man for herself and she was shopping in Max's department. This infuriated Max completely and the only way she could think of lowering Andrea's chance was to jump into the conversation. Squeezing in between Andrea and Logan and wrapped her left arm around Logan's shoulders. Andrea backed away surprised of Max's appearance.

"Max?" Logan mentioned. She smiled and started to push herself into her boyfriend more than usual. "This is my girlfriend, Max."

Andrea played with her pearl necklace in between her fingers watching Max go cheek-to-cheek with Logan. This wasn't how Max usually acted with her boyfriends at all. She never wanted to be all cuddly and affectionate. As much as it was awkward for Max to suck-up like she was, it worked against Andrea (who was tasting her own medicine). "Sour ain't it?" Max smirked. Andrea backed away, letting Max take the stage. A sense of accomplishment rushed through Max's Manticore veins. It felt good to be the playful, affectionate girlfriend that Logan wanted. It also made Max a little uneasy that Logan wanted a girlfriend that would be cuddly and suck-up to everything. That wasn't Max and she didn't know how long she could keep that up. Soaking in her win against Andrea, she waved good-bye and headed back to her table with Original Cindy and Linsay.

"Well well, look at you." Cindy added. "Someone is stepping up her game, giving that woman a run for her money."

"Her name is Andrea and she has a past with Logan. I just thought it would be fun playing that 'girl' for a while is all. We didn't dance but I felt enough satisfaction for the night." Max said. "I'm going to head off home early and do some things I want to get finished. Have fun you guys." she said leaving Crash and jogging to her motorcycle. Tucking all her hair into a long ponytail and using force to kicking the pedal, she rode off into the night.

_It was a little touch and color for a bit until I decided to kick Andrea off her throne. I thought it was pretty cool to see her frowning while I was beside Logan. I can't keep that cliche up any longer; it kind of degrades me in a way. What scares me is that what if Logan likes those kinds of girls like Andrea because in reality, that's not me._

After driving for a couple of hours, she heard a loud piercing screaming just off of a Sector entrance. Slowly getting off her bike, she scanned the area with her enhanced vision. Max relied of a lot on her gifted vision that Manticore had handed her. She may have disliked that fact that she was put into this situation of running forever from the world but there were positives. One, she had powerful strength that allowed her to do stuff normal humans without altered DNA could do. Although outwardly they appear to be ordinary humans, the X5s possess abilities that far surpass the human norm. The feline DNA used to enhance the X5s physical combat abilities granted them superior strength, speed, stamina, reflexes, agility and durability as well as exceptional night vision and greatly improved olfactory sensation and auditory perception capabilities. Combined with two-to-three decades of advanced training in martial arts, close quarters combat, sharpshooting, firearms, stealth maneuvers, infiltration, espionage, communications, languages, electronic-hacking, and computer technology, the X5s quickly grew into extraordinarily powerful and astute soldiers and fighters. Although the twelve '09 escapees only underwent ten years of training before staging their escape, they are still nearly unstoppable when facing ordinary unarmed humans.

She could remember little bits and pieces of her haunting and traumatizing stay at Manticore. One night, when Zach had planned the escape with other members of the X5's, Max looked out the window that had large, iron bars upon the window frame. She wondered how the world would be when she wasn't behind bars and training. Once the escape came full circle, Max was going to live the life she always wanted. Little did she know that she was wrong? The world she thought was perfection and a lot better than Manticore ended up to be her enemy. Max lived in a broken world where people who use to be up in the charts are now living on the streets. Max and many others like her had escaped and unleashed all hell upon this corrupted earth. No one knew how guilty she felt for all the pain and suffering she caused transhumans and Ordinaries by releasing the Manticore zoo. People just didn't understand what they were going through.

After loosing herself in thought, she was eventually distracted by the piercing scream of an innocent being attacked. Max used her enhanced agility to run into the darkened alleyway towards the attacked woman. "What's wrong lady?" asked Max catching her breath. The woman sat in the corner, huddled away from someone or something. Touching her shoulder, the woman squealed in fear. Max backed away, bumping into a large male creature. He had a white barcode across his dark, mauve neck, given by Manticore to designate his 'brand'. He snarled at her presents, not speaking a word of English, reciting some unknown text. Max shrugged her shoulders and glared at his terrifying, sharp rows of teeth. "Pandera Akum Lemata." the unknown transgenic blurted out.

"Sorry I wasn't imprinted with your native tongue." Max replied back to his rambling. The fierce (almost demonic) looking creature roared in her face the words in English.

"Get out!"

"You couldn't just have said that in the first place?" Max challenged jumping out of the way from his large swing of the fist. Back flipping on to a turned-over, wooden crate, she held her fist high. Lost, the beast transgenic scanned the area for her, turning to face her shoe slamming into him. He went twirling into the air, slumping to the ground and awakening a large, dust cloud. Aching in pain, the creature lifted himself back up of the ground. Max jumped off the crate and used her agility to zoom past the opponent and grabbed a metal crowbar that had been lying upon the cement. Now on his feet, he ran towards Max, body checking her into the wall with force. Her shoulder began to hurt, bruise and bleed from the pressure. With the other hand, she whacked the head of the creature with the crowbar. He stumbled out of her way, giving her enough room to kick him on the chin, making his flip backwards onto the ground once again. "Damn, you got some punch." she said. "My shoulder is killing me."

Loud, demonic growling spilled from his decaying mouth as he jumped off the ground and jumped towards Max. Damaging the same shoulder, Max was brought to the ground with a struggle. With this creature perched above her and holding her down, Max couldn't move. His weight was heavy; the razor teeth were near tearing her face off and his claws her digging into her shoulders. Trying to release one of her arms from his hold, she was loosing her well-needed energy. Max struggled to get out of his hold and before you know it, a white substance came squirting out of his mouth and right into her eyes. She screamed and with such adrenaline, she kicked him off of her. He landed into a pile of wooden crates, one strong enough to pierce him through the chest. Max slowly stood up wiping the unknown crap out of her eyes and off her cheeks. The smell was awful and it made her dizzy.

"It's too dizzy," she mumbled, only catching a glimpse of the creature lifting him-self off the wooden spike and limping away in the night. Max dropped to her knees, opening her eyes for the first time since they were exposed to the fluid. "I can't see anything, I can't see!"

**DARK ANGEL**

The next morning, walking down the street, Sara headed towards an empty, abandoned warehouse just off the end of Seattle. Approaching the back entrance, skids and broke glass plagued the cement ground. With her grey coat wrapped tight around her and a hat protecting her from the chilly winds, she gripped the rusty door handle. Yanking the iron door open, a large gust of musty air came wafting towards her. Upon her arrival Doctor Beverly Shankar welcomed her.

"Nice too see you again, Sara." Beverly said holding a long needle. Beverly is the Eyes Only informant at the Medical Examiner's office, although she is not aware that Logan is Eyes Only. She also volunteers at Harbor Lights Medical on a pro bono basis.

Beverly allowed Logan to shoot a corpse in the head in order to frame his killer. She was also involved when Max's "brother" Ben arrived in Seattle, and began killing people. She tracked down information from other areas of the country, and informed Logan of bodies turning up with barcodes on their necks.

When a mysterious disease was killing residents of Chinatown, Beverly autopsied a transgenic suspected of carrying the illness. She discovered that the pathogen was not an infectious agent but was instead deliberately released, and targeted to its victims.

Beverly notified Logan when a girl with a barcode turned up at the Harbor Lights clinic. The girl wasn't a transgenic, but a member of a "vampire" cult established by a rogue transgenic, Marrow. She attempted to assist Max and Logan with the girl, who was going through withdrawal from an addiction to Marrow's "supercharged" blood.

Beverly had the idea of transfusing Logan with a transgenic's blood when he was infected with the Manticore virus for the second time and there was no available antidote. The transfusion, from Joshua, was successful and saved Logan's life. Now, Beverly was warning Sara to stop the baby before is killed her. Sara smiled, unwrapping her fur coat to reveal burn marks upon her skin. The baby growing inside was burning away her insides and seeping through to her skin. Unwanted marks depicted that her baby was threatening her well being. Sara stepped beside Beverly, lying down on the examining table. Studying the burns that were inflicted upon her skin, she grabbed a needle.

"I hope you understand why I called you here secretly. I didn't want anyone to know what is happening with me and the baby. For the past two weeks, I have been getting these visible burn marks. Luckily enough, they are not permanent like a normal burn mark would be. Scaring is very limited but possible." She explained. Beverly listened to everything Sara had to say about the side effects, shaking her head.

"Listen, I know I've told you this many of times but this is serious. Last time I saw you, you could hardly stand up without having your eyes roll back and blood leak from your mouth and nose. Those organs were slowly but surely roasting inside of you. That transhuman baby is dangerous to have in your system. Before you know it, both of you won't survive." Beverly insisted. Sara still didn't make room for debating the topic. The needle that Beverly was holding is the solution of protein supplements she needed to build a barrier around her baby and the organs that she needed to survive and keep her baby alive.

"Is that what I asked for?" questioned Sara. Dr. Shankar nodded her head, lifting the sleeve that covered Sara's shoulder. Slowly, after sterilizing the area, she stuck the piercing needle into the tissue. Injecting a deep yellow color into her shoulder, she could feel a cool rush of relief. The aching pain stopped, stalling with a barrier of protein building around her baby.

"That should work for now but I wont be here every time you need to the solution. I'm going to Micronesia for the time being to study this pathogen. Luckily enough, I will be in town at Harbour Lights for a couple more months. If you need me, you know how to contact me. Keep in touch and take care." Beverly said packing up and leaving the warehouse. Sara sat alone on the table, regretting the agreement to have time apart with Alec. On their anniversary they had kind of broken up for a bit, time away to chill down. It was good a thing that he didn't know about the burn marks because that would bring him back to her. Putting her coat back over Sara's burns, she walked out of the warehouse leaving all the medical equipment behind.

--

The restaurant was getting much business in the past couple of days and it was only increasing. After seeing her mother again, Cindy grew to appreciate the effort her mother was taking to become mother and daughter once more. This often made Cindy feel sorry for Max that she never had been given the chance to bond with her mother. Somewhere in the world, her deadbeat mother was hiding away and not revealing herself. Jocelyn (Cindy's mom) had just left the store, finishing their discussion on the recurring, yet sensitive subject of transgenics. Since her last visit in Seattle, Jocelyn encountered one of the most terrifying enemies Max and friends have ever faced, X63. Jocelyn was very open-minded when it came to discussing what Original Cindy was involved with. First, being an open and proud lesbian with Linsay was one thing, but to welcome to idea that Cindy was involved with the transgenics was a biggy. Jocelyn had made such progress becoming the mother Cindy has always needed in her life.

She finished cleaning what she needed to and grabbed her purse. Linsay had said to her earlier that she would take over while Cindy was home. Smiling, she left her restaurant and headed home for her lunch. Upon entering her apartment floor, dodging all the money-asking homeless people and opening the door, she noticed everyone sitting in the living room. "What happened?" she asked placing her purse down. Alec, Logan, Erinn and Beverly Shankar examined Max from top-to-bottom. Original Cindy didn't even know what was going wrong with her. Walking around the chair and she noticed that Max's eyes were pure white. "What in the hell happened to my boo?" she asked crossing her arms. Beverly stood up, facing Cindy. She took off her latex gloves and shrugged her shoulders.

"I have absolutely no idea what's wrong with her. I looked at every angle of examination I can possibly think of. I do hope you know that this goes beyond my capability. I'm going to contact Dr. Sam Carr, he would have more of a understand than I do." Beverly explained. Logan glanced at Original Cindy and kneeled down beside Max.

"It's going to be okay," Logan spoke trying to comfort Max during her predicament. "Beverly is calling Dr. Sam, he will take a look at you for sure. I remember when I needed his help for my legs before the transfusion that Joshua gave to me. He's a really good doctor and he will keep this all a secret."

"I'm blind, Logan! I can't see a damn thing with these stupid eyes anymore. I'm going to need a walking cane." she pouted. Logan shook his head.

"Tell me how exactly you got this problem."

"I told you already, I was leaving Crash last night from the annual beer festival and heard a scream. I headed into the alleyway where I confronted this large ass creature. I looked on the back of his neck and he ended up being a transgenic, just a really huge one. Manticore must have created him for desert warfare or sumthin, I dunno." Max said adjusting herself on the hard, wooden chair. "But them he spat out some white crap that went into my eyes. I couldn't get him in time and he ran off."

Alec barged into the conversation, leaning in on the couple talking about last night's event. "Where did he run off too exactly?" he asked. Max faced Alec, almost like she knew exactly where he was. Even her eyes were pointed to him accurately.

"I'm sorry, I was blind you idiot!" Max shouted. Alec backed away next too Cindy.

"Someone had there bitch flakes this morning.," whispered Alec. Cindy turned around and slapped him across the head like old times.

"Idiot," she snorted. "You don't understand anything fool."

Beverly came back from making her phone call with good news to share. "I just got a hold of Dr. Curr and he is coming by to check on you Max. I just need you to describe this creature that attacked you. If I can get a specific detailed description of this transgenic, we will be able to track it down and bring him back here." she explained putting on more latex gloves. Max stood up from the chair, looking at Beverly with foggy, white eyes.

"What do you mean 'bring him back here'?" she asked. "Why the hell would you want that transgenic back here in my apartment?"

Beverly kept her cool, leaning away from frustrated Max. "Doctors orders."

--

Night yet again came to Seattle and the moon was aglow in perfection. Logan and Alec walked down a dormant street with leaves of every color blowing in the wind. Both holding weapons, the two opposite guys patrolled the night for the creature that attacked Max. Clutching his blade, Logan asked a daring question. "Do you still have feelings for Max?"

This coming out of nowhere from Logan infuriated Alec. Why would he ask this question at the moment? "What does that have to do with anything?" Alec asked. "You do know I'm marrying Sara, am I right?" Alec asked. Logan shrugged his shoulders, still waiting for an answer.

"You haven't answered the question yet, Alec. What happened between us last year with you and Max having sex made it very clear that you had feelings for her? I just figured we should get everything out in the open so we don't have this occurring problem in our friendship. Fighting over the same girl is ridiculous and I think we should solve our problems."

"Listen Logan, I love Max as a competitor and a friend. There is nothing to do with attraction any longer. That was a one-time thing that I thought I wanted. Sara is whom I want to live the rest of my life with but at the moment, she wants to have a break. This baby is what is driving us away from each other." he explained to Logan. He lifted his shotgun above his shoulder and walked with Logan towards Crash and down the alleyway where Max was attacked. Smashed crates and glass covered the ground. A sign of struggle plagued the darkened alley striking uneasiness in Logan.

"Okay, now that we got that settled, what about him?" Logan asked pointing to the large, hovering transgenic at the end of the alleyway. His dark purple skin and razor teeth threatened Logan and Alec as he charged towards them. Alec swung down his shotgun and shot the approaching transgenic in the arm. The speeding bullet did no damage to the creature nor did it slow him down. He was determined in tearing the guys apart into shreds with his monstrous claws and pointy teeth. Logan and Alec screamed like little girls, running away from the scene. The transgenic continue to follow them down the street. Luckily enough for them, no one was watching them become total sissy's. The wind was fierce, pushing slowing them down just enough for the creature to catch up. Alec tried to fend off the transgenic by punching him in the face. Once pulling back his hand, Alec jumped in pain.

"Damn! What is your face made out of, brick?" he questioned. Abruptly, he picked up Alec by the shoulders, lifted him high off the ground and threw him into Logan. Both guys were defeated and lying upon the ground. The transgenic was winning the fight and they needed to get him back to Max and Beverly before she went permanently blind. Logan began to think about Max and how he needed to show her that he was useful and not just some normal human boyfriend. Standing strong, Logan grabbed his tranquillizer from his pocket and shot the enemy twice in the chest and once in the arm. With no more darts left in the gun, they were rendered useless once more. Still continuing to move, the transgenic trucked towards Logan. Lost of what to do, Logan closed his eyes, awaiting death. Alec quickly got up and tripped the creature onto his knees.

"The gun!" yelled Alec. Logan bent down, grabbed the shotgun and threw it to Alec. He lifted the backend of the shotgun over the transgenics head and slammed it down. Luckily, the three tranquillizers and bash to the head were good enough to knock him out. Alec took a deep breath and leaned against the wall with his hands against his knees. "Nice throw." Alec noted. Logan laughed as he leaned against a garbage container.

"Nice catch, now let's get this to Max and get her eyesight back and running." The two guys carried the large transgenic on their shoulders, dragging him all the way back to the apartment. Behind the two boys, Sierra had been observing the whole time they fought the creature. With her hands inside her pocket and a menacing grin stretched across her scarred face, she walked into the shadows. General Boyd stood leaning against a stonewall, watching as Sierra approached him. The two had been working together for some time now. General Boyd had been using his newest "source" at -i-Corp and Sierra was controlling X63 as much as she could. If she could manipulate X63 into following orders from her, she could pursue her end game.

"I lost my hold on X63," Sierra spoke with authority. "He was beginning to become too dangerous to have around. For some reason, X63 was adapting to his surroundings, learning from the humans how to function. In easier wording for you because of your slow brain, X63 is quickly learning to how live on his own without the assistance of me."

"So what you're trying to tell me is that you failed your assignment" confirmed Boyd. Sierra wanted to punch a hole through his head but she needed his help. General Boyd had connections in -i-Corp that she never had. When Tri-tech was still around, Sierra hated them for what they stood for. Now that -i-Corp has come into the game after Tri-tech's down fall, things were coming full circle.

"All in good time, Jack. The plan is succeeding and yes we have a couple problems in the way. You got that maniacal detective Matt Sung out of the way and into the hospital, we released X63, -i-Corp is expanding their research and becoming a pain in 452's ass, and Sandeman is closer than ever, I can feel it." said Sierra smiling as she looked at the moon sending strands of silver beams descending on Seattle.

--

Max walked to the kitchen, still seeing nothing of anything. Her vision was complicated to explain and difficult to handle. All she could see was a white foggy light and nothing else. As she listened to people talk, it was like they were right beside her. Max wondered why they would be talking right in her ear. Curious, she turned around, waving her arms to feel anyone near-by. "Are you guys talking to me?" Max asked. No one answered to her as she walked into the living room. Because of her photographic memory that was given to her from Manticore, she remembered where everything in her apartment was, making it easier for her walk around, almost like she could see. The one thing that was annoying Max was all the talking she could hear but no one around her. Original Cindy was in her bedroom, Beverly went to meet Dr. Sam Curr and bring him back and Erinn had to go back to work. Max was all by herself, so why was she hearing voices? Slowly feeling her way to the front door, she gripped the knob and pulled forward. Entering the hallway, she could hear tons and tons of different voices talking, shouting and whispering. It was almost like they were talking to her but with other people.

"Is anyone here?" she questioned. One single person walked into the hallway, thinking she was crazy. The man giggled to himself and walked into his apartment, shutting the door. This disturbed Max greatly because the sound of the door shutting was extremely loud in her ears. The shutting almost sounded like an explosion. With all the whispering and noises she was hearing, Max grabbed a hold of her head and tried to block them from entering her ears. "Stop talking! Please stop it!" she screamed running into her apartment and slamming the door shut. Original Cindy ran into the living room and noticed Max on the floor crying.

"What happened?" asked O.C running to Max. It was like talking to a crazy person; Max couldn't hear Cindy over all the whispering of others. Once Cindy touched Max's arm, she screamed after being startled by her cold hand. Jumping out of the way, Original Cindy didn't know what the hell was going on.

"Listen to me, Max. You need to act normal for me boo. C'mon there gurl, you can do it! Just focus on my voice." Cindy said. Max began to talk to herself, talking about voices she heard.

"There everywhere, I can hear the voices; people are talking to me, I know it and I can't seem them, I can only hear them. I try to block it out but I can't!" Max screamed. Original Cindy pulled Max away from the door and into the living room area. Max leaned against a couch trying to block the voices out of her head. Suddenly, Beverly, Sam, Alec and Logan came entering the apartment with the transgenic. Cindy ran over to them asking for help.

"There's something wrong with Max. She's talking about some pretty whacked up stuff." Cindy said. Dr. Sam Curr walked over to Max, grabbing her arm.

"Listen Max, you need to tell me what's wrong!" he demanded. Max rolled on the floor, kicking furniture with her extreme strength. The voices were getting louder and harder to control the volume. Logan dropped the transgenic on the ground and tried to help his girlfriend, but it wasn't working. Beverly opened her briefcase and started to grab tools with Alec's help. She was getting ready to eject a counter fluid out of the creature's heart. After studying Manticore projects thoroughly since she met Max and Logan, Beverly knew that Sandeman always had a disinfective agent in the carrier of the disease. In this case, the transgenic had a cure to his paralyzing and blinding liquid from his own bodily fluids. After constructing the needle she lifted it high above the creature and stabbed it in the heart. She quickly ejected some of the fluid from its body and filled the needle container.

"Done, now get this into Max." she said handing the needle to Alec. Suddenly, the transgenic awoke from the tranquillizing darts. He grabbed Beverly's neck and squeezed tight, cutting any oxygen. She tried to scream and ask for help but he threw her across the apartment. Dr. Sam turned to face the transgenic with fear in his eyes.

"Dear God." he whispered. Max continued to hide in a corner with the attempt to block any voices from entering. Original Cindy hid behind a couch from the transgenic as Alec tried to fend it off again. Useless, Alec went flying over the couch, hitting Cindy on the ground too. The needle rolled in front of Max but she couldn't see it. Everyone was getting hit around by the transgenic as Max sat scared in the corner. Trying to listen to what Cindy had to say, she needed to focus on one voice. Really trying, she finally lowered the volume in her ears enough so that she could hear her friends louder.

"Logan?" she asked heavily breathing. She could hear loud bashes and screaming from her friends. Max stood up and leaned against the wall, trying to see what was going on. Still, she could hear tiny voices in the back of her head, but not enough to distract her. Trying to visualize where the transgenic was, she marked a spot in her head. Running forward, she jumped onto the couch and onto the transgenic. The noises they were making were allowing Max to pinpoint where they were. The two rolled out into the hallway, smacking against the drywall. Max could feel a certain sense to move and so she did, dodging the creature's fist. Swinging her leg in a 360 twist, she was successful in tripping him onto the floor. It was almost like fighting normally. She couldn't see what was going on, but in her head, she could hear, which was helping her make sense of what she should be seeing (I know, confusing). With her enemy on the ground she sat on top of him and with her arms wrapped around its neck, she twisted. The transgenic was now dead with his neck snapped. Max felt to make sure it was dead before getting off its chest. Logan grabbed the needle and headed towards Max. He gently lifted her off the transgenic's body and placed the needle into her neck, injecting the fluid to counter the blind effect.

The hour went by quickly and finally the last bit of Max's vision came back. She noticed all her friends sitting on the couch and chairs looking right at her. Dr. Sam patted her face with cool water and turned off some lights. "Welcome back, Max." he said. "I turned off some lights because for a couple of hours, your eyes will be a little sensitive to light. Just sit down and relax." he said getting up from his chair and grabbed his suitcase. "As for me, you can call me whenever."

Sam left the apartment and Alec shut the door behind him. "Can someone tell me why I heard those voices?" Max asked. Beverly knew exactly what happened and she was impressed.

"Max, you were hearing the voices from people who were living in this apartment building. I know it's complicated but because you lost your sight, your engineered body function enhanced your hearing abilities thus making it louder than it would normally be. That also explains why you were able to continue to fight the transgenic even though you were blind, it was because of hearing." Beverly explained (I hope all you readers understand, if not, email me).

"Yet another wonderful gift from Manticore," Max sarcastically added. "Thanks for helping me, Beverly." Max thanked. Beverly smiled, grabbed her stuff and headed towards the door.

"I'm leaving for Micronesia soon, but I will be here for a couple more weeks. Give me a call if you need Me." she said leaving. Alec closed the door and sat down with Logan and Cindy. The three of them all stared at Max with curious looks. Max rolled her eyes and stood up.

"I can see you now, I'm not blind anymore." Max said. Logan kissed her on the lips and Cindy and Alec smiled until suddenly they heard a comforting, familiar voice. "Is Joshua interrupting something?" he asked. Everyone looked at him shocked because his face was normal, no more defect. All Joshua did was smile.

**Appearances**

Max

Logan

Cindy

Alec

Sara

Joshua

**Guest Starring:**

Erinn

Sierra

Linsay Gomez

General Jack Boyd

Dr. Sam Curr (Special Guest Cameo)

Beverly Shankar (Special Guest Cameo)


	10. Episode 10: You Make Me Crazy

**Readers Note: **Hello everyone, welcome back to my fourth season episode 10! I would like to say a big thank you to three of my most avid readers, Jeanette, Marcus and Andie! Thanks you guys, the ratings and reviews have been greatly appreciated. This episode I've used for people to kind of catch up on what's going on in Dark Angel. There maybe some people just popping on the wagon as I speak, so you never know. A lot of information will be in this episode, for like I said, the catch up episode for anyone who is confused as well. I'm bring back old story lines that will continue also the new ones to come that will form into season five (The final season). I hope y'all enjoy this episode and in two weeks, the most exciting episode to date is coming to your computer screens when disaster strikes Seattle! :)

**DARK ANGEL**

**The Complete Fourth Season**

Episode 10

"You Make Me Crazy"

* * *

**December 1st, 2022 - Seattle, Washington**

_I'm supposed to be a revved-up girl ... truth is, I'm a lemon._

Flashbacks began to resurface while she sat pinned to the corner of Logan's bathroom. With every shake, the chills and aches worsened. It had been a long time since she had a seizure, almost three years. Manticore had to have one design flaw that was the most irritating one to say the least. Manticore created their X5's almost to perfection, but missing the essential tryptophan amino acid in the brain resulting in the seizures. This led to the removal and death of some of their unit back in 2009, also provoking the nominated leader, Zack, to create an escape plan out of Manticore for his 'family'. Max showed early signs of seizures one night in Manticore when trying to sleep. Since then, she only has gotten worse as she gets older and the amount of pills increased to slow down the problem. Sweat covered her arms, her chest and trickled down her cheek.

Logan came running into the bathroom holding a large container of Tryptophanin his hand. Tryptophan is one of the 20 standard amino acids, as well as an essential amino acid in the human diet. It is encoded in the standard genetic code as the codon _UGG_. The distinguishing structural characteristic of tryptophan is that it contains an in dole functional group. Kneeling down, he passed the container to Max as she shook in pain. It was getting harder to breathe and function. Examining this, Logan grabbed the bottle out of her cold hands and twisted the cap open. Pills came pouring out onto the floor, this having Max scatter the floor for the long, white pills. Logan had gone to China Town to find a certain contact that sold tryptophan pills, one of the rare medications to find. Max's seizures hadn't been a problem for a long time and the purchasing of pills weren't needed. For some strange reason, the seizures returned at the moment, but this time it was even stronger. Logan guessed that the seizures could be permanently fixed but there were no Manticore specialist left. "Don't worry Max, just take some pills." Logan said. Max shook, cupping her hands to cradle three tryptophan pills. Max has a design flaw which can leave her virtually helpless: the inability of her brain to create enough serotonin. This condition leads to uncontrollable seizures and complete powerlessness. Max's powers can be revived through external means: either through the food supplements, tryptophan, or by drinking a glass of milk. Two years ago this no longer became an issue as the government captured her and repaired the faulty genes but for some reason it was back this morning.

"This i-is the w-w-worst I've ever experienced," Max painfully added while talking the pills. "Why w-w-won't it stop?" she asked herself. The pills then entered her genetically enhanced body working their magic. The shakes slowed down and the pain soon became numb with the beginning of the medication working. More flashbacks were coming back to her as she suffered in the bathroom, memories of Manticore and her 'brothers and sisters'. She could remember the night when Eva stood up to Donald Lydecker, holding the gun high. Max remembered standing behind Eva with her fellow unit members, rendered useless; Lydecker, without hesitation, shot her and killing one of their 'sisters'. Her death only reinforced the need for the others to escape.

Another memory that came to Max during her suffering was the death of her 'brother', Jack. One day when he was going through vast training sessions, Jack suffered from a mild seizure that quickly turned into a serious problem. Lydecker refused to provide treatment for Jack, ultimately killing him. Finally the pills fully kicked in and stopped the seizure she was suffering. "How are you holding up?" asked Logan. Max leaned against the tile wall in his bathroom reeling from the past pain. Licking her lips and gathering her words, she finally spoke.

"That was blast through the past, gee," joked Max. "If I was going to remember things I forgot, I would have these seizures more often."

"Explain." he said. Max rolled her head to face him and she smiled.

"Never mind, I just want to eat something very spicy. For some strange reason, I get the crazy cravings for spicy Thai food. You know what I'm sayin?" Max said. Logan shook his head and helped her up from the floor. She stretched and put her jacket back on over her exposed arms and shoulders.

"I'm going to go see Joshua at his house. Since he's been back with his surprise new face, I wanted to go check up on him. It's gotta be a whole new change for him. Also, I have some serious questions for him and how this is connected with Sandeman. I'll catch you later?" asked Max. Logan nodded his head throwing a towel over his shoulder and placing the pills in the cabinet.

"I might not be here later tonight but Renee might," he revealed. "She's still looking through files for information on her parents. As for me, I will be meeting up with Matt Sung. Just yesterday he was let out of the hospital after his remarkable recovery from the bullet wound."

"Oh okay, I'll probably see you another time then. Gotta blaze, bye." she said running out of his apartment. Logan watched as she left and walked out of his bathroom. Max rode her motorcycle all the way to Joshua's house. Approaching the retro, falling apart house that use to be owned by her father, Sandeman, she opened the front door. The loose hinges screeched as she pushed the screen door open. Walking into Joshua's unkempt kitchen, she scanned the house. Flies and other insects flew around the air she breathed. The house reeked of decay and old garbage.

"Joshua, are you home big fella?" she asked picking up garbage and throwing it out. Looking around curiously, she twisted the TV knob to the right. The news turned on with cameras pointed to Helen Lorenzo presenting her newest story for the New World Weekly news cast. Her hair was in a tight bun and she was wearing a beige suit that fit her well. Even though America was going through a depression, she knew how to dress. It was very hard these days to find a good outfit. Sometimes clothes that were considered 'in' were over hundreds and hundreds of dollars. Obviously all the money Helen was making during this financial downfall was working to her advantage. In these days, the rough economy weighed heavy on Max's shoulders. Her style was pretty down to earth punk ass gal. She was satisfied with her style and no woman in Ralph-Lauren clothes would ever intimidate her.

Helen straightened her posture and started her story. "Good morning Seattle, last night there was a deal struck with the Mayor, who resides in City Hall. Detective Clemente has some words he would like to say to further expand the investigation into the newest negations upon Seattle's transgenic situation. Before we speak to Detective Clemente, who has had personal contact with the apparent leader of the transhumans, the Mayor has instructed that we civilians follow some strict follow-ups when in contact with a transgenic. We will further that story with tomorrow's continuation story but now here is Detective Clemente." she said passing the microphone to him. He cleared this throat and started to speak. Max was now intrigued to hear what Detective Clemente had to say to Seattle on live newsfeed. It had been a year and some months since the last time she confronted him. She could remember the day during the siege at Jam Pony.

"...I would like to say that we need to be careful when in contact with these so called 'humans'. They have abilities that are stronger than any normal human is capable in carrying." he said. Max shook her head and heard the front door opening. She turned off the TV and headed towards the noise.

"Joshua!?" she asked. Pacing to the door, she noticed Joshua standing in front of her. Besides from the new haircut that was now spiked and gelled, his face was extremely normal. Max didn't want to brag but it was convincing like hers; although now that Clemente was spreading her name and face all over Seattle, she wasn't so safe anymore. He was wearing a tight leather jacket and sunglasses. Revealing his still sharp, canine teeth, he hugged Max, lifting her off the ground. Max tried to get out of his large embrace but he was too strong. "Okay, oxygen becoming a serious issue." she said as he put her down.

"Oh ya, right." he spoke. Smiling and showing off his new self, Max was impressed more worried.

"I hope you know I have a lot questions for you, Joshua. First, where the hell have you been for the past couple weeks?" Max asked with her arms at her waist. Joshua shut the door behind him and guided Max to his dusty, covered couch. "No, I don't want to sit right now. Tell me what happened!"

"I know Max is mad at Joshua but I-I have a good explanation. I found a message from father behind paintings of Annie." he tried explain. Max shrugged her shoulders, lost.

"A message Sandeman left?"

"Max follow me," he ordered walking down into the basement. Max raced down behind him to see a large wall of runes scratched all through. "See Max, father left me this to cure Joshua's face. It took me some time but I found the right people; father's friends. They helped me with my problem." Joshua explained. Max hardly paid attention to what Joshua had to say. She was fully flabbergasted by the runes that appeared all over her body was the same as the markings that appeared all over the wall. She walked over to the wall and felt the imprints with her fingertips. Tracing up and down, side to side, analyzing the letters.

"Joshua, do you know how to read these?" she asked. He didn't know how to read them at all until he found this book awhile back. He walked to his bookshelf beside a piano and grabbed a large, dusty book among other text along his oak shelf. Pacing over to Max, he handed her the book. This book was very similar to one she had seen before and it made Max shiver. Dropping the old book out of her hands, flashbacks began to come back once again. During the time when she broke into the Familiar's academy to look for Ames's son Ray, there was a book upon a side-table of one of the little kids. Inside were drawings of the runes that appeared all over her body and now on Joshua's basement wall. Somehow, Sandeman was trying to tell Max something through these runes. The runic alphabet is a set of related alphabets using letters known as runes to write various languages dating back to several centuries ago. When Max was first created in Manticore, Sandeman had no Junk DNA inserted into her genetics and implanted a coded message into her DNA to appear when needed. The message was written in the runic alphabet.

"Did Sandeman leave this for you?" she asked. He stood beside her and looked at the book.

"I found it in a box in that corner of the basement. Father left a variety of books about the secret language here with Joshua. Luckily enough, I found them for Max to read and understand the markings on her skin." he explained. Max examined the wall again and back at Joshua.

"Joshua, I need to know who helped you with your appearance," Max said. He looked down at his shoes and back up to her eye level. "This person may be able to fix my faulty gene problem."

"Max, his name is Dr. Quentin Saunders, a former friend of fathers. He use to work at Manticore around the time father was running head of the facility. He has the stuff to fix people like me. He might know about your mother. I searched for Saunders while he was in Seattle. Father said that they use to be good friends before the Committee took over Manticore. Ever since then, Dr. Saunders had been missing just like father. Well, I found him after I decoded the message Father left for me in the secret runic alphabet." Joshua said.

"The same runic alphabet that Ames's breeding cult used." added Max. Her eyebrow arched high at the word, "mother". When was the last time she did anything associated in finding the woman who gave birth to her? Manticore kept the identity of the mothers highly secretive from any of the nurses and other workers. There was one helpful thing Hannah had said to Max before leaving the state, she knew her mother. Max would never give up in looking for her mother; if anything, she might have the answers she needs. Suddenly, both Joshua and Max heard someone enter his house from upstairs. Looking at Joshua with widened eyes, she shimmed across the wall as she stepped up each step. Joshua followed behind her as they headed towards the silent footsteps. The floorboards above their heads cracked with every step the intruder made. Max leaned against the basement doorframe with her arms stretched on each side. Using her cat-like vision she scanned the living room, kitchen and dining room of his house. A shadow was casted upon a wall of someone in the house other than Joshua or herself.

Twirling away from the doorframe, she glided into the living room. Each step she took got her closer to the intruder that had skipped into the kitchen. Joshua stayed behind so he wouldn't get in the way of her snooping. Jumping into the kitchen, she dodged a throw of the fist to her face. Grabbing the persons' arm, she twisted it the opposite way. "Hey, be careful there. My arm is precious to me." Alec said munching on a pickle. Max dropped his arm and pushed him against the counter.

"What are you doing here, Alec?" she asked. He fixed his coat and stood up.

"I was looking for some food to have. I figured if no one is touching the fridge, there's got to be some good treasures in here. Besides Max, why are you here?" Alec challenged her. Max shook her head, getting ready to punch his face inside out. Holding back, she refused to kill Alec just for today.

"I'm here to talk with Joshua. I think we need to go on a little road trip." Max explained. Alec shook his head while eating another pickle.

"What do you mean 'we'?" he asked. "I got a deal with a high-tech contact that can help us track down Asha. He has the right equipment to assist us in tracking that bitch down Seattle."

"Well, I'm sorry but you're coming with us. If there is one place where we can find answers, it's going to be at Brookridge Academy." said Max putting her gloves on. Alec was now serious.

"Wait, where we found White's son involved in those mysterious cult ceremonies in that temple?" he challenged.

"That's the place; it's our only hot-spot at the moment to get some well-needed answers. As much as I hate to say this, you're coming no matter what." she said pulling on his shirt and dragging him out of the house. Joshua walked over to the door and watched as Max threw Alec on the motorcycle.

"Joshua will stay here and watch over the house." he said. Max shook her head and smiled.

"You're coming with us big fella," said Max. "We need ya ova there."

**DARK ANGEL**

".....Original Cindy thinks ya need to hit it tight with them hot baths. Max and I always know that a hot bath will cure anything. You know what I'm sayin?" she asked Sara as they sat in Cindy's apartment. Sara had just recently asked her to the close the blinds over the window for the light penetrated into her sensitive eyes. Every day, she was getting worse and worse with her condition. Carrying a baby with abilities even stronger than her own was a bitch. Sipping slowly at her coffee mug, she stared at the blank TV screen. Cindy walked over to the screen and whacked it with her first and adjusted the antenna.

"It's kind of hard relaxing in a hot bath these days, I have problems getting out." Sara laughed tightening her grip over the warm mug. Averting her eyes over to her bag on the other chair across the room, she exhaled stressfully. "Would you mind getting my bag for me?" she asked pointing to her bag across the room. Cindy paused for a long moment watching Sara suffer a large headache and roll her eyes back continually.

"Are you sure you okay boo? I can call Logan to come pick you up and bring you to Harbour Lights if you ain't feelin aiight," offered Cindy standing up. "Cause gurl you look like hell, mhm."

"No! I'm fine Cindy; just bring me my bag please." Sara blurted out in pain. Original Cindy put her coffee down and walked over to the isolated chair at the other end of her apartment. Gripping on the strap of her bag, she turned around to only trip on the ground. Spilling the contents out of Sara's purse revealed all her bottles of pills for medication. Crawling on her knees, Cindy scattered the containers all over the floor and counting a total to ten different bottles of pills. Cindy lifted a bottle containing the medication Beverly prescribed with only four left inside.

"There are only four pills left in this container, Sara. There's somethin you're not tellin me boo. This bottle of pills was just given to you and you only four pills left gurl. I think you need to stop taking them before you get addicted." Original Cindy said with concern. Sara then had blood coming out of her nose, trickling down to her chin. Grabbing the bottle out of Cindy's hand, she chucked back the four pills. Cindy was scared watching Sara suffer and act this way around her. Sara was beginning to lose her mind and taking all the pills that fast could become an addiction. "You need to see a Doctor fast!"

"Listen Cindy, you can't tell anyone. This especially is about Alec; you must not tell him what's happening with me. I'm six months pregnant; I have three more months to go before this baby is born. I'm going to wait it out." Sara explained. Cindy shook her head disapproving.

"That's still three months of this," Cindy pointed. "You're going to be six feet under before you even give birth to your child. Gurl, you need to think of your future at hand."

"O.C, I want this baby to have a normal life, a life that his mother and friends never got because of Manticore. There are so many issues in this world, conflicts that are beyond my power to stop, this being one. This baby may take the life of me away but that doesn't mean I won't bring this child to this world. I'm going to give this child an opportunity to live the life I've always wanted. Now, these pills are helping me last at least three months until the baby is due or even to keep me alive." described Sara. She then lifted her shirt to reveal the inflicted burn marks all around her skin. Some were healing and others were infected and dangerous. Original Cindy was utterly shocked and therefore silence plagued the apartment.

"Hell to the no, what happened to you?" replied Cindy after seeing the markings. Sara pulled her sleeves and shirt back down and smiled, brightening up her eyes as well.

"Nothing, don't worry about it. All you need to know is that to keep this secret." Sara confided. Cindy smiled and helped her clean the bottles off the floor and placing it back into her purse.

"Now lemme run that bath for ya."

--

Marcus entered his home, leaving work earlier than usual. Lauren was sitting upwards against the couch twiddling her thumbs. "How are you doing today?" he asked Lauren. She had been off work for the past week resting from what happened to her in the underground tunnel ways with X63.

"I was just thinking about Max and what she is," said Lauren. "And that this monster is looking for me because of my blood."

"Don't worry about that, Lauren. I will make sure no one gets you at all." he said walking over to the couch and hugging her.

--

".... I don't know boys; last time I was here it seemed a little more alive." Max said to Joshua and Alec while approaching the town. No one was walking down streets, cars were crashed into buildings and store doors were left open. Windows were broken, mini flames roared in trashcans and garbage blew freely in the wind. The air was freezing; cool enough to numb the tips of their noses. Alec walked up beside Max while scanning the area. There was no one in sight since they entered this little fishing community.

"Maxie, is there a reason why you brought us here again? I'm all for the perfect getaway but here? It seems as though the apocalypse has already made its way here." asked Alec to Max. She quietly took off her sunglasses and looked around for anyone to ask questions to.

"Sorry to destroy your dreams smart Aleck, they were fresh out of five stars." Max spoke approaching a crashed, dormant car. It looked like the windows were smashed open and the car was driven into a fire hydrogen. "I thought Ames's little breeding buddies believed that the 'Coming' would wipe out the entire human race, not just a town."

"I don't think that's what destroyed this town, Max. We should further investigate; get answer-" Alec said.

"-Starting with Brookridge Academy." Max interrupted. The three made their way through the town that was damaged, destroyed and left behind to fade away into nothing. A once filled fishing community was now left to rot. Alec noticed a near-by store that had been broken into. He used this as a way to get money and some food off the racks. Stepping over a smashed door, he walked towards three rows of shelving units. On each were bags and bags of food untouched and ready for him to take. Max entered the store, looking at the clerks table and cashier. Pounding on the top of the cashier machine, a tray with coin slots opened.

"Huh, I guess were not the first looters to come," Max said. "Someone took all the money."

"Not the food, everything is untouched for some strange reason. We're all suffering a depression and no one takes the free food on the shelves? Something is definitely abnormal about this town. Why are we here again?"

"So we can find some answers at that school. Last time I was there, I didn't get a chance to explore the tomb underneath." she said walking out of the store. The three of them walked and walked for hours, not finding any leads at all. Max's hope was running slim and she needed something. So many things were happening in her life at the moment. Sandeman was missing; her mother is known to be alive and the search for the newest thorn in her ass, Dr. Saunders. This Doctor worked at Manticore around the time Sandeman did. This could be the prime answer source she longed for. Alec began to slow down and catch his breath.

"We've been walking north for three hours! I don't see a school anywhere, Max. I think we should just head back home and look for that Doctor Saunders person." Alec complained. Max didn't even turn her attention to Alec he complained relentlessly.

"Alec, you're a super-enhanced killing machine and you can't even walk for a couple of hours? Sometimes I question why they created you exactly." she explained heading north. Alec shook his head as they approached the large boarding school behind the dense layer of fog. There was no sign of life anywhere in this small town. Everyone and everything was seemed gone. The grass lost its emerald shade and is now a dismal brown. The doors and windows to the school were yet again, smashed.

"Either I'm crazy or someone or something went through this town. The question is what exactly?" Max thought out loud as she examined the school grounds. Entering the school building, she was welcomed by a thick layer of toxic air. Chewing the toxins out of her face, she headed down an empty hallway.

"This place gives me the creeps.," admitted Joshua.

"I second that." Alec added. Max (ahead of the pack) followed a trail of a black substance that was smeared upon the floor. Stepping over the sticky liquid, Alec followed Max darker into the haunting school. Bending down, she pulled out a pair of tweezers and scrapped a trace off the ground and into a small container. Shoving that into her pocket, she started to walk again.

"I'm going to bring this back to Beverly Shankar, she might have answer to what this black stuff might be." Max said. The three of them finally came upon a stairwell that led them underground into the tomb of Brookridge. Upon being welcomed by a chilling wind, Max sensed they were not alone. Searching down each corridor, Max scanned the perimeter for someone. Entering the room where she had defeated Ames White, there was nothing. No corpse was left behind, almost like they took his remains.

"Someone took Ames's body, I wonder who." Max said. Joshua and Alec had no suggestions, so they continued to walk ahead. Suddenly, as they turned the corner, Max swung her arm and grabbed the person behind them, slamming them against the wall. Alec and Joshua turned around and realized whom she was holding by the neck, C.J Sandeman. He shrieked in terror as Max held him tight against the stonewall.

"I remember you, you're Sandeman's second son." she said.

"The one and only," he strained to say. "Nice meeting you again, I see you still have that unbelievable strength working for you."

Max let go of his neck and smiled. "What are you doing here?" she asked. C.J hesitated to answer and tried to change the subject. Max was tired of not having the answers she needed. "What happened to this town? There are no people anywhere!"

"It was the toxins; father is going to be mad! I-I tried to tell him that Ames wasn't going to listen." C.J said. Alec observed from behind Max as for Joshua, he was lost.

"This guy has gone nuts," Alec said. "What is he talking about?"

C.J tried to run away from them but Max dragged him back against the wall. For some reason, he was trying to dodge the question. "Listen buddy, I'm really not in the mood today. Tell me what happened here!" she demanded once more. "This time, make little more sense."

"They released a deadly pathogen into the public that was stolen from a bio-pathology Lab." explained C.J. "Testing their theory that after centuries of breeding, they could survive the 'coming' of the beast. Ames use to speak to me about the end of time. Father found out I wasn't supposed to survive the 'coming' and so he created you guys. When you killed my brother, that stupid woman released X63 from his slumber and now it's the apocalypse. Damn, I've already said too much."

"No! You're doing fine, keep telling me more. Where is Sandeman?" asked Max. C.J began to hum himself a tune. Joshua's eyes widened as the song struck a past memory. He walked up closer and bombarded C.J with questions.

"How do you know that song?" Joshua asked. C.J shook, lexamining his new appearance.

"You're one of my father's first, before he created human-like prototypes. I'm curious how you were able to change your looks. It takes a master-mind like my father to do something so extreme." C.J said, trying to ignore his question. Joshua asked again, this time with authority.

"Tell me!" he demanded. C.J raised his arms up high, swaying into frenzy.

"Father sung to me that song when I was young. Ames wouldn't care to listen to father and his stories, oh but I did. That's why father chose to leave the cult and create Manticore." C.J admitted. He then grabbed her arm and rolled the sleeve up to reveal her olive-tone skin. Tapping up and down, he looked for something on her arm.

"Don't touch me!" yelled Max. C.J backed away in shock.

"Where are the runes? Such pretty runes they were." spoke C.J. Max pulled her sleeve back down and pushed him harder against the stonewall.

"Listen loon, my patience is running slim for you and your father." Max shouted. C.J closed his eyes and spoke with a low voice.

"Everyone died all around me. I finally escaped my cell and tried to get out. Ames was dead and the cult went bonkers, releasing the pathogen on the town in order to cover up their identities. It succeeded; everyone died who resided in town. Luckily enough, I wasn't exposed to the pathogen from down below. Ever since then, I've been hiding down here, drawing. Do you want to see my drawings; I worked really hard on them." C.J said as he guided them through a dark, moist tunnel. Max looked at the pictures on the stone of a creature and other similar symbols.

"The Manticore symbol," Max pointed out. "Why would you draw this symbol?"

"Father had pictures of this symbol all over the house. He would write on the basement walls of many equations and equations all in runes. I could never read the runic alphabet." he said.

"That explains why there was writing on the wall," Max said to Joshua. "Sandeman must have wanted to fix the problem of deformation on his first subjects. The thing that troubles me the most is the fact that Sandeman just leaves everything behind, disappears off the face of the earth. With him out of the picture, Manticore became more of enemy than intended. Back when Renfro was leading Manticore, pushing Lydecker off his throne, she was aggressive. Before she died, she told me to find Sandeman. All I have been doing the past couple of years has been looking for him!" she shouted. Her echoing shout reverberated off of the rocky walls. C.J plugged his ears and began to scream.

"Those piercing screams burn my ears."

"This guy has been down here too long. We can't bring him back up there either, the toxins are still circulating." Alec mentioned. Max tried to think of a solution, she needed to bring him back with them to Seattle.

"Where did all the Familiar's go after releasing the pathogen into the general public?" she challenged.

"How the hell am I supposed to know? They still have plans for the future, the breeding continues it was just you foiled their plans. Can I go now?" C.J asked Max. Alec had left the conversation and ran outside, running back her shouted down the hallway.

"The fog is lifting, the toxins are clearing!" he said. Max looked at C.J and smiled, realizing her terrible life. Having to suffer with the loss of his father and his tormenting brother was damaging. C.J had been mentally damaged because of his family and what lived in the dark. Max couldn't help but feel compassion for her kinda brother.

"What does this mean?" C.J asked. "No more toxins?"

"That means it's your day; the first day of the rest of your life. Being stuck down here for a year is terrible and unfair. Now that the toxins have released, you're finally going to be able to be set free." Max spoke. Tears came streaming down C.J's face as he jumped for glee. Joshua, Alec and Max followed C.J as he ran down the hallways upstairs and jumped over the front door that had been broken.

"Freedom!" he yelled jumping. Max watched from behind as C.J stood waiting for her. She walked up to him and smiled.

"What are you waiting for?" asked Max. C.J looked at the road ahead and back at his savior.

"Come with me," he suggested. "Leave the world that haunts you."

Max looked at the road that went on for miles and miles. It was tempting for her to just to ride down that path and never turn around. "You go have the life you've always wanted. As for me, I'm going to kick some asses and stop the end of the human race. Now get outta here!" she laughed as he started to walk down the long road ahead. Alec and Joshua headed into the car as Max stopped in the middle of the road. Looking down at the path she could take, she paused.

"Max, aren't you coming?" Alec questioned. Max stood and turned over Alec and walked his way.

_I'm guessing Ames and the cult had an after plan to take effect after the rise of X63. At least C.J is now free into the world. After watching what the pathogen did to this little town, it only scares me for the near future. Now, I'm staring at this road, with two different lives in between. It was tempting to just leave, I almost did._

_**Appearances**_

Max

Logan

Cindy

Alec

Sara

Joshua

**Guest Starring:**

Marcus

Lauren

Helen Lorenzo

C.J Sandeman (Special Guest Cameo)


	11. Episode 11: Poker Face

**Readers Note:** Hello everyone! This is episode 11 of season four of Dark Angel. I know it's been a very long time since I posted an episode, but this chapter took me a very long time for some reason. I guess you will be the judge of that will ya? This episode is about Alec and his issues, Renee and her parents and more about Dr. Quentin Saunders! And don't forget, there is only one more episode left until Christmas break, so make sure you stay tuned for Friday's episode. Thanks, enjoy and rate please! :)

**DARK ANGEL**

**The Complete Fourth Season**

Episode 11

"Poker Face"

* * *

Logan analyzed Joshua's face, touching his newly altered appearance. "It is pretty amazing how this Dr. Saunders's did your face." he said. Max and Renee stood behind with their arms crossed watching as Logan played with Joshua's cheeks and bone structure. Renee grabbed her purse from behind the kitchen counter and searched for her keys to her car. Max averted her eyes over to her and curiosity struck.

"Where are you off too?" Max asked. Renee pulled her keys out and stuffed two sheets of paper into her pocket. She put her hair up into a ponytail and tightened.

"I have a really good lead on the death of my parents. I know -i-Corp was involved in everything but who exactly is the question. I'm meeting up with a guy named Jose with apparent information about my father." she explained. Max watched as she left the apartment and turned her attention back to Logan's ranting. Meanwhile, Renee headed down the apartment steps and into the underground parking lot. Finding her car, she pressed the button of the key to unlock the doors. Gripping the handle, she pulled to open when a hand caressed her own. Renee jumped out of the way and looked at the man who was standing beside her. "Jose?" she asked. He looked at her with his hood covering most of his appearance; almost like hiding from someone.

"We need to talk somewhere else. There's a restaurant down the street, come with me." he demanded as Renee locked her car and followed his down the path to the beaming sun light ahead. Walking down the street, Renee passed homeless folks and Sector police patrolling their designations. As they approached Original Cindy's restaurant, the man swung the door forward and they quickly entered. Sitting the in furthest corner, Renee asked Jose what was going on.

"Okay, this whole mysterious act is kind of getting old. Tell me what's going on!" she demanded. He lifted his hood and exposed his identity to Renee. Lost, she shrugged shoulders not remembering who he was.

"I've waited for a long time for this, Renee Virgina Hart." he said. Renee began to tear when she came to the realization that he was her long lost father, William Mckanas Hart.

"Dad?" she spat out. His face then warmed to her sweet voice.

"I know it's hard to believe but I have so much to tell you and you must start listening now because I don't have much time.," explained William. Renee was so full of shock that she couldn't even say a correct sentence.

"A-A-are you J-Jose as well?" she questioned. "Because I was supposed to meet with this Jose person."

"Yes but there is not much time left to talk. Is there another time we can meet perhaps?" her father asked. Renee thought about her plans for the week and looked back at her father. What a shock that he was sitting right in front of her at the moment. For most of her life, she lived with the plaguing thoughts that her parent's were killed by -i-Corp. It was made to look like the average car crash but Renee thought different.

"Meet me at a bar named Crash tomorrow night. I think we will blend into the large crowd. Trust me, that is the only place that people go to at night. There, we can talk about my life that you missed." said Renee. William Hart looked at his daughter from across the table and slowly reached out to her cold hand and held it tight. Gazing into his daughter's eyes his smile widened.

"I've missed you so much, Renee. When your mother and I first met you in the hospital, we vowed together that we would never leave your side. We would make sure that you would be safe and sound in our arms, our protection from the world that you have unfortunately grown up into. Trust me when I say, I had big plans for you Renee." William said grabbed his jacket and throwing the hood over his head. Sliding out the door, Original Cindy entered the seating area in her restaurant. She rubbed her dish clean and eyed Renee down as she sat at the table alone.

"Where did your little friend leave to?" Cindy questioned as she walked closer to her. Renee did not respond for three seconds until she realized Cindy was right beside her. Startled, Renee stood up and pushed her hair out of her face.

"He had to go for now. Is there anything I can help you with?" Renee asked trying to gear the conversation into another route. Original Cindy suspected something was going wrong with Renee and the man that had just left her restaurant. Itching her head beneath her straight weave, Cindy looked at the door and back at Renee.

"Mhm, I see you tonight gal?" she asked. "Logan is having a little get together to talk about enemies. It's getting to the point that we can't even count with our fingers how many people are after us. Not only is that stupid Asha-bot bitch running the streets, that facility named -i-Corp is a constant thorn in my black ass. If it was up to me, I would be kicking them bitches down." Cindy said. Renee shook her head.

"Ya, I'll see you then. Look, I have head out and do somethings before tonight, so if anyone asks, I'm out." said Renee as she left the restaurant.

--

Alec walked down a narrow alleyway as he counted a large bundle of one hundred dollar bills in his hands. Steam blew in his face, not even inflicting any pain as this determined man approached a giant, iron door. Gripping the rusty handle, Alec entered inside the rustic building. Upon entering, he was welcomed by two ladies wearing pink and black lingerie with c-notes hanging out of their bras. "Welcome back Mr. Alec, we missed you." A stripper named Lynn said as she guided him into a room where a circular table had seven men sitting around. The dealer threw cards in everyone's directions as they played a serious game of poker.

Alec analyzed the contestants playing the game of poker. He zoomed in on one players' hand, viewing that he had three aces. Looking at the three cards faced-up on the green velvet table, a ace was placed as the fourth. As the transgenic threw his hands up into the air in victory, his component opposite to him across the table was shot to death. Alec backed away as he witnessed the murder. The transgenic that won grabbed the thousands of dollars from the pot and headed towards the door a richer man. He patted Alec on his shoulder as he held the crinkled bills against his chest. "Good luck, dude. You are going to need It." the victorious transgenic nudged as he left the poker game.

Alec approached a large, built man with his wide arms crossed at chest. His heavy breathing was complemented by his husky voice. Antonio was Seattle's most wanted mob leader for a couple of years now. Since the release of transgenic projects from Manticore's facility, Antonio has found a creative way for making business. Secretly, he has held these corrupt poker tournaments away from any witnesses that may leak his information. Handing Antonio his share of money, Alec sat down at the poker table. Antonio stood near the table, viewing all the poker players who were attending this game.

"Each of you has submitted one thousand dollars to play. The rules are as followed, the person who looses their hand each round is killed. You all payed to risk your life and be the last one standing to earn the most money you can. The winner of this tournament will be five grand richer in their pocket. In these days, that's gold." Antonio said with his Latino accent. The women placed beside everyone the amount of chips they purchased. Alec swallowed deeply and looked at his competition. Five sat around him, making him the sixth and final competitor. Christa, a waitress in this illegal group of people handed the deck of cards to the dealer, Antonio. "Let the games begin!"

**DARK ANGEL**

Sara was feeling extremely better after taking her pill before lunch. The protein barrier that was getting stronger around her baby was protecting the flames from destroying anything important. One may ask how a human body can carry such unbelievable amounts of heat; well the ugly truth for Sara was that she couldn't. Manticore may had created her with the ability to develop a living flame before peoples' eyes but she wasn't meant to last with the body of genetics she was given. Usually, anything that was created in Manticore would have the necessary strength to hold her strong abilities. She often pondered that idea but decided that she wouldn't think about her past today. Feeling better than normal, getting some shopping done and having one-on-one girl talk with Original Cindy has made it a lot better for her to handle. Linsay came dragging into Sara's apartment with grocery bags filled with fresh fruits and vegetables that they had purchased from a Chinese market not far from home. "Holy girl, do you need all this stuff?" Linsay asked. Cindy came into the apartment just after Linsay holding even more bags.

"No, I believe the question remains whether she will be able to eat all of this food." she said dropping the bags. Sara smiled and suddenly bent down in shock with her eyes shut tight. Cindy ran to her aid as Linsay looked for pills in Sara's purse to give her. Sara blocked Cindy from getting any closer as she lifted herself up and smiled.

"I'm okay," she said. "The baby kicked for the first time!"

Cindy and Linsay jumped for joy and placed their hand upon Sara's belly, feeling each kick as the baby turned. Distracted, Cindy and Sara did not notice Linsay as she tucked a mysterious envelope into her jacket pocket with "Phoenix Attorney" written formally upon the pale surface. She was hiding something from Cindy that she didn't want to see, something she received the previous night. The three girls all jumped for joy as thoughts of Alec came to Sara's mind. She couldn't help but miss him after all this time apart. She often wondered if they were making a huge mistake not going forward with the wedding.

Sara always wanted a princess wedding; being all-beautiful and most of all, normal. She would remember dreaming on lonely nights in Manticore about her wedding in the future. The day she would commit herself to another was a day she always longed for. As Cindy and Linsay sat on the couch in the seating area, Sara walked to a hazel-stained cabinet. Pulling door open, she grabbed her shiny diamond ring into her hands. Caressing gently, a tear streamed quietly down her forlorn cheek. _The things he must had done to get this ring_ she thought as the ring reflected rays of sparkling light. She put the ring back into the cabinet and locked it tight from the world.

--

Lauren Benello gracefully entered her office floor, hugging the print of the weekly issue. Greeting a morning 'hello' to Helen Lorenzo as she passed her side, hitting her shoulder on the way out. Sitting down in her cubicle, she started to type the next column of the paper. Typing the title, she thought that she would make an article about a formal apology to Max and the transgenics. She saved her life; they aren't bad at all like the media made them out to be. Worst of all, there was that creature that stole her wanting them dead.

Lauren still had to grasp that her blood was unlike any other. X63 thought that was tasty, which didn't bother Lauren at all. She often thought she was a treat. Giggling to herself, the stretching smile ached her dark, healing bruise. Unwanted memories plagued her thoughts as she rubbed her cool arms. "C'mon Lauren, get it together. Mr. Howard said that he wanted to the column done by tomorrow.

Listening to Lauren as she recited the same sentence over and over again, Tim Howard tapped her on the shoulder. "Yes, I would like that column done by tomorrow. We have a deadline that is approaching very fast. The Holidays are approaching and I wanted to get out best news out before the long break." he mentioned. Lauren slightly lifted her head up to look at her boss standing before her.

"I know sir, I've been trying to get this done by tomorrow. I think I might have a really good story for the paper." Lauren said. His eyebrow arched high with interest to hear about her apparent intriguing story. Adjusting his glasses high above her nose, Tim Howard glanced at her computer screen.

Reading her title in bold font, he backed away shaking his head. "What is this?" he asked concerned. Her smile quickly frowned as she was caught off guard.

"What do you mean 'what'?" asked she. Tim Howard tensed just thinking about the subject matter. Anything to do with the transgenics infuriated him greatly and to see that one of his best reporters is writing about them made him sick.

"Lauren, offering those _monsters_ an apology for that wonderful article you wrote prior is absolutely unacceptable. Being the advent viewer of the news that I am, I've been following this 'Manticore' issue for some time. Now because someone so stupid released all those creatures from that hellhole, we have to pay. You know how many lives deceased because of those things; too many to count after several months of watching. A prime example would be what happened on live news about that blind woman found dead with her neck completely twisted. They are capable of things normal humans aren't, Lauren. If I were you, I wouldn't want to risk my career over shaking hands with the other side." he explained. Lauren was in utter shock hearing the words that leaked out of his foul mouth.

"I would like to say something important before you leave. These transhumans are not what you think they are. I do agree that they have abilities beyond normal human existence, but to assume that they are unlike any other person is breaching territory anyone should never touch. They saved Marcus's and my life from something even worse than them. They have more troubles than anyone I have ever met. The enemies just pile and pile until they can't fight any longer. We are not helping with this anti-sentiment towards them." Lauren spoke with absolute authority. Tim was impressed with Lauren's strength in words, but she was only digging her own grave.

"I don't have time to talk with you about those creatures. They are nothing but trouble in this society and only chaos has won. I have a meeting with a government facility, so If you don't mind, I'm going to go promote our company." he said as he walked out of the office area. Lauren was tense, but soon after she learned to relax, her shoulders loosened and fists released. Glancing at her bright computer screen, she began to doubt the story after what she heard. Behind a wall adjacent to Lauren, Helen viewed closely. If there was one person Helen hated most, it was Lauren and her successful career in New World Weekly; their boss always loved Lauren over her work and for some reason, Marcus did too. Now, the two lovebirds are a couple and Helen is left out once again. Helen was waiting for the perfect opportunity to take Lauren down a peg or two from her hierarchy.

Walking up to Lauren at her desk, she smiled. "What are you writing about Benello?" asked she. Lauren looked at the screen and quickly minimized the article about the transgenics.

"I was just brainstorming for next week's column. What about you?" challenged Lauren. Helen straightened her posture and looked out the window of the office area. The tall buildings of Seattle towered over crowded civilians walking every direction. Upon averting her eyes over to Lauren she smiled once more.

"It's a mystery to me still. I have yet to channel what I am going to write for next week." Helen replied. Lauren nodded her head, agreeing.

"I know what you mean; I think everyone is having that kind of problem."

"I beg to differ," Helen snapped. "Later." she said walking out of the office room. Lauren shook her head trying not to think about Helen's resentment towards her on top of her other problems.

--

Logan, Joshua and Max scanned the computer screen, looking for various pieces of information they could put together about Dr. Quentin Saunders. Yet another person Max had to put onto her list of people to find. Her life was just a rather large and complicating puzzle and she needed to put the pieces together and finally get the answers she needed; however they were too hidden.

"Do you have anything on him yet?" she asked. Logan pulled up a black and red profile of Quentin on his screen. The three of them glared at the screen intensively, trying to gather the little information that was given.

_Quentin Charles Saunders_

_Age: 49_

_Spouse(s) - Debra Saunders (deceased), Elsa Saunders (divorced)_

_Current Status: Unknown_

_Occupation: Saunders worked at Manticore under the authority of the Committee and his partner Sandeman. After Sandeman signed Manticore to the Committee, he fled Seattle, leaving behind everything. Dr. Saunders continued his research to discover a cure for the deformity of the original prototypes, such as Sandeman's first and second._

Joshua's eyes widened as he read this profile on Dr. Saunders. "That's me, Max." he said. Logan smiled and placed his hand onto Joshua's shoulder to make him feel comfortable. Max looked down at his list of two spouses he once had.

"That's something to go on. Am I right?" she questioned. "If we can locate Elsa, his latest wife, we may be able to know where he is and get some answers."

Logan rolled on his chair over to his other desk. "Let me contact Matt Sung, he might have some answers about her current location. I'm sure after settling back at work, he could do a little something for me. No bullet can take down a single man." he laughed, recalling frightful events that changed his life forever. The paralyzation was just one thing, but being warped into this world with Max was not only thrilling but also scary. He never really had the guts to tell Max the truth about how he feels about the whole entire situation. He averted his eyes over to her, scanning her olive-ton skin, those moist, large lips and beautiful skin. It was hard to resist, _too bad she's not in heat _Logan thought; however, after he realized the error in that thought, he quickly wiped his mind free. Max stood up, all ready for battle once again: her normal routine. Picking up the phone, he dialled Matt's number. Joshua and Max could hear faint chatting from the other-line, awaiting information vital to them.

Logan nodded his head constantly after every word Matt spoke. "I need you to locate a woman by the name of 'Elsa Saunders', she's a wife of one of the scientists that use to work for Manticore." he answered, his question was then followed by more faint words spoken and some more nodding heads. When Logan hung up the phone, he handed her a napkin where he scribbled the directions. "I swear Matt is getting better at locating people we need after all these years. Elsa Saunders lives on Pine Ave, just after Market Street. Be safe, I don't want those current seizures running you down during this outing. Do you have pills equipped with you?" Logan wondered. Max tapped her pocket to signal the bottle of pills that were ready if needed.

"Gotta blaze, see you guys soon." Max shouted as she ran out of his apartment, leaving him wanting more. Riding her motorcycle down a narrow street of Seattle, the dismal clouds hovered over her like a dark sheet. Tall buildings lost their reflections upon windows and sun wasn't seen for days. Little splashes of brown water landed on her jacket as she rode down the crowded market place.

_The thing that bothers me the most is that people don't try to stop this 'depression'. I mean, they have suffered for so many years it's like their life now, to suffer. I'm too busy for that right now, I'm trying to stick with one saving the planet act at a time._

Heading towards a small shack outside of Market Street, she parked her bike upon the dampened grass. Pushing her hazel hair behind her back, Max stepped up the rotted, wooden steps that led to the front door. Knocking on it once, then twice, then a third time, an old woman answered. With her liver-spotted handles, she shook to open the screechy door. Her hair was jet white and she smiled revealing dentures. Max was confused because of her appearance as an elder woman. "I'm sorry is Elsa Saunders home at the moment?" she asked the old woman. The woman fixed her hair and smiled at Max with such twinkle in her blue eyes.

"You're speaking to her," answered she. "Is there something wrong?"

Max was lost in thought and did not speak for the longest time. "Sorry, I just thought you would be a little-"

"Younger?" Elsa asked. Max blushed while nodding her head, agreeing to Elsa's brutally honest remark.

"I actually have something to ask you about your husband Dr. Quentin Saunders." questioned Max to Elsa. Her eyes widened to hear that name after so many years. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine dear, I just find this a little funny that two people have asked me where my ex-husband is currently located." Elsa mentioned looking pretty taken over by emotion and shock at the same time. Max's brow arched high wondering who would have come to ask where Quentin was.

"Sorry to ask you this, but may I know who came to ask you where your husband lives?" Max stretched to ask. Elsa looked back into her head to remember what the person looked like exactly.

"Let me see here, tall, handsome, a young fella and has a tattoo on the back of his neck, a barcode?" she asked herself. "Ali, Alex-"

"Alec?" Max shouted in anger. Elsa jumped for joy after hearing the correct name.

"That's it, thank you dearie. It was has been bothering me since he came this morning." Elsa said. Max shook her head whispering to herself hateful words towards Alec (some which will not be said for this is a family show). Hoping on her bike, she rode off without even saying 'goodbye' to Mrs. Elsa Saunders. So many questions popped into her head as she rode off into the distance. For example, why was Elsa a lot older than Quentin Saunders himself? Another one would be why Alec came to visit her without telling anybody? First things first, Max was going to confront Alec once again for something stupid. A fast as she could, she made it too Sara's apartment. Opening the door, Sara walked into the area, smiling at Max.

"Max, what's wrong?" Sara asked as she put peanut butter onto a red, delicious apple then taking a rather large bite. Max watched as she then took a pickle out of a jar from her pocket and dipped it into mustard, also placing that into her mouth with the apple and peanut butter. Shaking the image out of her head, she chose to remember that Sara was pregnant and she would crave odd food combinations. Getting back to the main topic, she placed her authoritative voice back on.

"Where the hell is Alec?" Max demanded an answer. Sara shrugged her shoulders and bit into another pickle. Linsay walked into the room and looked at Sara's jar of pickles in her pocket. Reaching to grab one, Sara grabbed a fork out of the other pocket and threatened to pierce Linsay if she touches any of her pickles. Max viewed the whole confrontation between the women over a jar of pickles. Sara turned back to face Max and smiled once again.

"How the hell am I supposed to know, he doesn't come home anymore? Before you leave, I was reading this book on pregnancy and how mothers can have mood swings and stuff like that. Well, I've been doing great in that area; I haven't snapped once." she laughed with joy as she finished her second pickle with peanut butter. As Max stomped out of the apartment, Sara came stumbling behind her. "Wait one second, I think I do know where he is," Sara replied. "He's been playing poker with 'buddies' at this apartment in Sector five. That's his new thing now that he's free." she laughed again, walking into the apartment and shutting the door. Max growled, running down the hallway to catch up with him at his poker game.

--

General Boyd walked back and forth upon tiled floor in -i-Corp, pondering his various schemes. "When is he going to be here?" he fiercely asked a guard beside him on patrol. The man stood scared and speechless after Boyd's shouting. "Useless," he snarled. "Where do I get these people from?" he then asked himself. Suddenly, another worker of his ran into the lab with better news to hear.

"Sir, a man is here to see you. May I let him in?" he asked. General Boyd smiled and signalled for him to bring the visitor inside the laboratory. All of a sudden, William Hart (Renee's father) walked into the room with a Machiavellian grin upon his face. The old friends embraced as they met after so many years apart. William sat down on the edge of a lab bench, as General Boyd stood straight.

"So, how is the plan working? Has she given into your manipulations as of yet?" Jack Boyd asked curiously. William nodded his head from side to side.

"So so, it's still too hard to tell," he replied. "I'm sure once we brainwash her good enough, she will locate Eyes Only for sure. I know that she is in direct contact with him, but the identity is still secret."

"I wonder what she will say after she finds out that she's the heir in owning -i-Corp after your death."

--

After following direction after direction from homeless people on the streets, Max finally found the correct building where Alec and his poker buddies were playing their tournament. Approached by the two same women at the front counter, she pushed them aside and further advanced into the basement level of this abandoned apartment. Pushing past leaving people, she followed the loud sound of a gun shot. Running, she made her way to the circular poker table where three remaining contestants (including Alec) were fighting for the pot.

"Who in the hell are you?" asked Antonio. He lifted his fist and threatened Max from coming any closer. "You better get out of here or else!"

Max averted her eyes over to Alec, who had sweat dripping down his cheek from all the stress and playing. "I'm in," Max said as she took off her jacket and sat down at the table. Antonio took his gun and pointed it to her head.

"More the merrier," he laughed. "The rules are as follows, loose your chips, and loose your life. Last one standing amongst contestants, you win the jackpot."

"Bring it on." said Max and she ignored Alec's ranting.

"Max, what are you doing, this is not your game to win, it's mine. I need to cash more than you do!" Alec said. Max wiped her head to his side and gave him a dirty look.

"Alec! I know what you are going to do with that money. You want Dr. Saunders to help you with answers!" Max whispered. Alec backed away.

"How did you know-"

"I had a little visit with Elsa, his ex-wife!" she shouted. Antonio cocked his gun and pressed harder upon her head.

"This is no place to talk, only play." he said releasing the gun. Max gave one more look Alec's way and grabbed her hand given by the Dealer. Alec and the other transgenic then grabbed theirs, ready to play for the jackpot. Max's main goal was to stop Alec from winning the money and not allow him to receive satisfaction from doing what he was doing. Besides, this wasn't the morally right thing to do. He was competing against other transgenics for a prize of money, beating them out of the way and ultimately killing them.

Viewing her hand, she had three fives; looking at the table there were a 5 3 3 and 2. Max raised her bet to the rest of the chips. Alec jumped out and folded; the other transgenic placed his bet as well. Staring him down, he began to become intimidated by her piercing stare. The transgenic was ready to place down his hand and hope to win the round and get rid of his competitor, Max. Antonio watched closely, awaiting the drama that was near.

"Looks like lady luck is not on your side," Max said placing her hand down and revealing her three fives with the five on the table. The other transgenic was totally shocked, as he originally thought she was bluffing and lost all his chips. Antonio placed his gun on the transgenics head and shot him dead. Green liquid leaked from his head and he slumped to the ground. Max couldn't believe Antonio shot one of her people dead after loosing a game of poker. "What did you do!?" she asked standing up. Antonio yet again placed the gun near her head.

"You just don't learn missy. I told you those were the rules and you chose to stay and play the game. Now get back to the game with buddy over there."

"The name is Alec."

"Ya ya, whatever, just finish this so one of you win the jackpot and leave me alone for the night." Antonio said. Max sat back down, gathering all her chips from the other player, who is now deceased.

"Max, only one of us can survive!" Alec shouted. Max grabbed her other hand from the Dealer and smiled.

"I know."

Alec was shocked that Max could do such a thing and the only way for him to survive was to kill his own friend. When the dealer placed down two aces and a king, Max looked at her hand. Max's hand consists of two kings and an ace. Alec's hand consists of two fours and one king. Max, yet again placed all her chips into the bet. Alec shook his head trying to warn Max that he didn't want to do this anymore, but Antonio was watching closely. Max never relaxed her smile and when she played her hand, Alec had finally lost after playing so many games. His heart sank when he faced his future fate. Antonio grabbed his gun and pointed it towards Alec (his fifth victim that day). Alec didn't want to die; he had a family coming his way, a child. Max watched and suddenly used her fast agility and grabbed Antonio's gun, pushing him against the wall.

"Hey!" Antonio yelled. "This isn't part of the rules!"

"Keep your cash." she spat, grabbing the gun and walking out of the poker tournament. Alec ran after Max towards the exit and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Max, wait up!" he said. "What you did for me back there was something I need to extremely thank you for. About the Dr. Quentin Saunders thing, I wanted answers of why I'm here. So, I contacted Elsa Saunders and asked where he lived-" Alec rambled on until Max cut him off.

"Alec, save your explanation. I'm sick of you trying to piss me off all the time. All you do is bring pain and chaos into my world and I wish you would just go away!" Max said leaving the conversation and dumping the gun in a trashcan. Alec stood alone, regretting his past with breaking up with Sara and fighting with Max; always getting in the way. Alec stood there still alone and hours passed by and by again. Nighttime fell upon Seattle, blanketing it in darkness. The rain began to poor and Alec finally decided to head home. Once reaching his old apartment, he knocked on Sara's door, waiting an answer.

Sara answered the door and looked at soaked Alec. For a long moment, she thought about what she should do. He was standing right in front of her, waiting an answer from her. This was Sara's time to decide and after thinking it through, she picked the right one. She grabbed a blanket and wrapped him until he was warm. Together they lay on the couch of their apartment embracing tightly for this time, Alec was the one crying.

To be continued...........

**_Next Dark Angel,_**

_The unspeakable happens when destruction and chaos comes to Seattle and affects the residents inside, including main characters whose lives will change forever!_

_On December 18th_

**Appearances**

Max

Logan

Cindy

Alec

Sara

Joshua

**Guest Starring**

Renee Hart

Lauren Benello

Linsay Gomez

General Jack Boyd

William Hart (First Appearance)

Elsa Saunders (First Appearance)

Tim Howard

Helen Lorenzo


	12. Episode 12: Crash Crunch Boom

**Readers Note:** Okay, this episode is by far my most favourite episode that I have written to date. So many things happen in this episode that concludes dragged story-lines and leaves readers hanging. A lot of information to soak up in this episode as well and a lot of characters appearing; most of all the characters of season four appear in this episode one way or another. I would like to say that I am completely excited for you guys to read this episode. Knowing me, I kill off so many characters that it becomes no shock to you all when I do, but this episode I have to say kills many characters, and maybe ones you may not want dead or not. Without further ado, the first episode of 2010...

**DARK ANGEL**

**The Complete Fourth Season**

Episode 12

"Crash Crunch Boom"

* * *

Previously on Dark Angel,

Max visits Dr. Saunders wife to only find that she was a lot older than he. Sara and Alec rekindle their long broken relationship. Renee met her father who claims that -i-Corporation is looking for him. It is revealed that William hart (Renee's father) is the actual owner of the -i-Corporation and works with General Boyd in an attempt to receive Eyes Only's identity.

* * *

The night finally ended and the horizon was kissed with brilliant hues of sienna. With rays of light peaking through silk curtains, they penetrated through Alec's shut eyelids. He awoke beside Sara, both wrapped in a grey, wool blanket upon the couch. Sara was still asleep, leaning against him as support. He didn't dare to move; letting Sara have the tranquil sleep she desperately needed. Memories began to resurface of the days he and Sara spent together, but something shocked him. After thoroughly analyzing his memories, he realized that he never was the best boyfriend to Sara. She deserved a lot more than he was giving to her and she had enough. Alec totally agreed with her decision to kick him out of the house. After last night, he didn't know what route their relationship would take.

Caressing her left hand, he realized that something was missing. The ring he had given her before the events of the rampage in Seattle was gone from her finger. This pained Alec to see that she took it off. He looked at his hand and acknowledged the gold band upon his finger. Sara's warm breath soothed Alec's neck as he held her hand in thought. "Morning," she said stretching.

"I guess we fell asleep from last night." Sara said lifting herself from their embrace. Alec got off the couch and looked away defeated. Sara pushed her hair away from her face and looked at him. "Did I miss something?"

"Your ring," he painfully said. "You took it off."

Sara averted her eyes to the cupboard and back to Alec who juiced in his own emotions. "I..I..I didn't want to remember anything during that time Alec. It was hard for me to think about you and the baby. I just wanted to be clear of those thoughts, be free." she tried to explain but Alec wasn't buying anything she was saying. Sara sensed the division between the two once again and the only way she thought that they would be together again was to put the ring back on. Walking over to her cupboard, she pulled the ring out and placed her hand in front of his face. "This is for us." she said as she placed the ring back on her wedding finger. Alec's frown turned upside down and suddenly, there was a sparkle in his eyes. They embraced, only for him to discover Sara's burns around her arms and neck. He pushed her away and demanded an answer.

"What happened with you? Are you okay? What are those burns all around your arms and neck?" he asked one after another without letting Sara speak one word. She tried to think of a gentle way to break the news to him that she was getting worse than before.

"Before you go all protective on me..."

"Too late," he implied. "Tell me what happened!"

Sara looked away to answer his demands. Any eye contact made her feel uncomfortable when talking about the subject. "When we decided to take a break, the baby started to get stronger and since the pills were stopping the main organs from becoming extra-crispy, I guess the heat began to penetrate my skin. I started to notice burns around my body a while back, but they're getting better." she explained. "I've been seeing Dr. Beverly Shankar for check-ups just to make sure the baby is alright."

"Well, thanks for telling me." Alec said. "Nothing else is happening since then, am I correct? No more problems with the baby?" he asked.

"Nope, I and the baby are perfectly fine." Sara replied.

--

Hours passed and Original Cindy had everyone come over to her restaurant that afternoon to celebrate the recent success. The customers had started to flood in after Lauren's glowing review about Cindy's restaurant and the 'absolutely delicious food' served daily. The doors were shut for New Years Eve and everyone of the gang that could make was there. Cindy grabbed a fork and tapped the edge of her wine glass until the room was silent. "Thank you for coming everyone! I just wanted to say that this has been an amazing year for Original Cindy. I would like thank my girl, Max for saving my black ass during all the rough times against the forces of evil. If it weren't for her, I would probably not have this restaurant." she said smiling. Max raised her glass of beer and winked her eye to her. "Also, it an economy so messed up, this restaurant still stands strong!"

Everyone raised their glasses and cheered for the future success. After the speeches, Max had sat down with Linsay, Renee and Joshua. All with secret agendas that was hidden from each other. Renee watched the clock, waiting for that certain hour for the big hand to hit to meet her long lost father. Linsay played with an envelope wondering if she should tell everyone about the contents inside and Joshua was still trying to contact Sandeman. But for Max, her's was very much known, she wanted X63 dead. "Great party," Linsay said trying to break the awkward silence that plagued the group. Her voice was followed by three head nods and two smiles. "So, what's going on with everyone? If you've noticed, I haven't been around much lately."

Max, Joshua and Renee all had blank looks upon their faces, seeming to ignore her question. Linsay smiled with a bottle of beer in her hand and took a large sip, drowning this still awkward moment with alcohol. As Cindy talked with Sara about the baby, there was a knock on the restaurant door. She put down her drink and headed towards the door and opened it to the couple smiling. "Sorry, we're not open for the rest of the night. You should go to the Seattle fair-grounds, they're having a display of fireworks and serving food there." she said cheerfully. The guy's forehead creased and suddenly he remembered where he says Cindy before.

"Hey, you're Max's friend, right?" he asked hold a girl around the waist. Cindy shook her head to remember who he was and suddenly it came to her.

"Rafer?" she asked. He nodded his head. Max and Rafer go many years back. One of times she suffered from heat because of her genetics, she had a one night stand with Rafer. Since then, the two have flirted back and forth but after the evacuation of Seattle, he had left and apparently grabbed a woman along with him. Original Cindy let Rafer and his girlfriend April into the restaurant. He approached Max and tapped her shoulder.

"Max! Long time no see." he said. Max turned around and looked at Rafer and his girlfriend.

"Rafer, wow you look different." she said. He smiled and tightened his grip on April.

"Rafer tells me a lot about you, Max. Ever since the whole world pretty much found out you were the leader behind the Transgenics, you've become popular on the news. It's horrible what they're doing to you're kind." April said. Max smiled nodding her head and agreeing.

"Well thanks for the support I guess." Max said averting her eyes over to Cindy. Max couldn't help but feel a little jealous that Rafer found someone to share his life with. She crossed her arms and waited for someone to continue the conversation.

"So... we're heading over to the annual Seattle lights festival for the countdown, you should tag along with us!" Rafer offered to Max and friends. Joshua's eyes brightened when he heard 'lights'.

"Lights! Joshua like big flashing lights!" he cheered. April smiled at Joshua and his extreme excitement. Original Cindy patted him on the back and sipped her beer. Max looked outside as all the couples headed down the streets to the festival of lights for the night.

"I might, I don't know for sure. I have lots of work to do before I can celebrate anything. New Years is just a distraction." she explained. Rafer's smile turned to a frown.

"Oh, okay then." he said. "I guess we'll being seeing you around." he replied. Max smiled and and sat back down at her seat when Original Cindy came up to her.

"What in the hell was that nonsense?" she asked. Max shrugged her shoulders.

"What? There is too much to think about right now. We have Sierra and X63 out there somewhere waiting to strike the human-kind. We also have -i-Corp on our tails, sending hell knows what kinda challenges our way. This is not the time to be watching fireworks and singing songs." Max said. Joshua shook her shoulder and complained.

"But Joshua want's to see the big booming lights, uh...f..fireworks!" he said.

"I don't want to talk about it right now, let's just enjoy the night for now." said Max.

--

Above the state of Montana, Flight 230 flew over the large mountains and beautiful scenery. Over one hundred people were aboard that airplane, all going to Seattle for the coming New Year. Families sat together with their children, playing games and passing the time. Others sat day-dreaming, waiting to reach their loved ones on the other side in Seattle. Some were hoping they were going to make it for the midnight festival of lights.

A daughter and her mother sat on the fifth row from the flight attendant fixing the DVD player. She gazed out the window, watching the dark clouds zoom right on by. Holding her stuffed animal tight, she gulped looking down at the state below them. Her mother Misty Shallow held her daughter's hand tight. "Don't be scared, Anya. Riding a plane is one of the safest ways of transportation. Just think about it, once we land, you'll get to see daddy!" Misty said trying to calm her daughter down from her fear of heights.

Anya held her stuffed animal tighter. "Mr. Teddy says he doesn't like it up here." she replied to her mother. Misty smiled and patted Mr. Teddy on his fluffy head.

"Tell Mr. Teddy for me that you two are going to safe." said her mom. Anya laughed and placed Mr. Teddy in her mother's arms.

"He can hear you, mommy. Don't be silly." she said giggling for the first time since they have been in the plane. Her laughter was short lived when the plane began to shake and rumble. People held onto their seats tight and waited for instructions from a flight attendant. The woman stopped fiddling with the DVD player and asked if everyone could remain calm. When entering the pilot's cabin, the flight attendant Lori Giles nudged the rider.

"So what's the verdict with this storm cloud?" she asked smoking a cigarette.

"Ah no smoking on my plane," he said. "I thought you said you were quitting."

"I was until life bit me in the ass again," replied Lori. The pilot looked at the dark forming clouds over Seattle, Washington. "Those don't look pretty."

"Yea, that's my job unfortunately. It's going to be a bumpy ride." he said gearing up for the struggle in the clouds. Lori put out her cigarette out and headed into first class riding. Everyone looked at her worried about the plane.

"Everyone remain calm and seated. We're just buckling up for a bumpy ride through some storm clouds. I assure you that there is nothing to worry about at all. Our pilot is very good at what he does and he will get this plane out of any trouble." Lori explained. Anya sat holding Mr. Teddy tighter and tighter as they approached the dark, heavy clouds before them.

**DARK ANGEL**

It was seven at night and before you knew it, any shed of light faded away in the darkness of storm clouds. Thunder roared and little flashes of light brightened Renee's path towards a park. Her father waited in a drenched rain coat with a hood over his head. Renee ran over to him and tapped him on his shoulder. "William," she said as he turned around. "I came at the right time, so tell me what's going on." she demanded. He shrugged his shoulders and paused for a long moment.

"I expected you to at least address me as your 'father'." William Hart said to Renee. She shook her head, surprised.

"What did you expect? I accept you as the best father in the world cling arms and dance? You abandoned me from the beginning. You faked your death so you could, what, escape?" she asked. William tightened the grip of his other hand, trying not to lash out at his annoying daughter. "There's no time for father\daughter reunions, let's just get to the point."

William turned away to speak. "The -i- Corporation has located me since my stay here in Seattle. I thought that we could team together and stop them once and for all with your help of course. I know you're a part of that cyber journalist's fan club, uh...Eyes Only. Since his return to the scheming against criminals, he's really stirred trouble for him and his followers. I was wondering if we could put a broadcast out that will put -i-Corporation at their knees begging." he explained. Renee didn't understand what he was trying to say.

"Wait, you want me to contact Eyes Only to put a broadcast out about -i-Corp? What good will that do? We're avenging mom's death, not telling on them for what they did. I want to take them down one by one, starting with whoever created that stupid organization!" Renee shouted. "They ruined my childhood and I want to take it back."

"At least let me meet this Eyes Only guy." William said. Renee frowned.

"I don't know who he really is, only the guy who works for him." she said. William's menacing smile widened as he succeeding in getting approval to Eyes Only's informant net.

--

Reaching eight-thirty in the afternoon, Max headed for a quick visit to the Council. She walked passed all the running people to the festival of lights and headed to the main gates. Two Transgenics let Max into Terminal City and she walked through the dense, underground area. She could see their luminescent eyes peaking behind pillars of rock, others following her as she enters the Head Quarters. Upon entering, she looked around, greeted by awkward silence and more stares. She smiled and ran up the long winding stairs towards the conference room. Opening the door, she noticed Lilith and Sarge planning their next attack.

"You still don't know the meaning of 'knocking' do you?" Lilith sarcastically added as Max sat down. She smiled and looked at Sarge. He straightened his posture and averted her deep, ruby eyes to Max. Sarge's spiky, emerald skin intimidated Max. The funniest thing about him is that he was the biggest sweet heart. Beyond all his spikes and red eyes, he loved each and everyone. His one weakness was Lilith and her false assumption of power. She ruled him like he had no voice.

"We haven't been able to track down X63," Sarge said to Max. "Nor Sierra, they both are in complete hiding mode. I feel bad for your cop friend Mrs. Woods; she must be having a hell of a time searching for these two criminals. We've been tracking down newest stories about deaths in other states relating to X63 and his ways of murder. We've also narrowed it down to a small town just two hours from here. They've reported at least three deaths by unknown circumstances. If you look at it, we'll take anything." he explained to Max.

"So, what do you want me to do about it?" she asked to Lilith and Sarge. "I mean, I've tried knocking him down and all I get is hit across the room like a doll. I can't lay one fist on him without losing something else. It's pointless really." Max replied. Lilith rolled her eyes as usual.

"So easy of you just to give up like that. That shows signs of weakness that we cannot afford right now, 452. Make sure you're always on top of your game or one day, the lives of everyone will be on your shoulders and then who will be feeling guilt then?" Lilith asked rhetorically. Max nodded her head and whispered in her breath.

"I already do."

Sarge re-entered the topic, ignoring Lilith's last remark. "So are you going to check out this place or not?" he asked Max. She looked at him and at her watch that was around her left wrist.

"I guess," she replied. "But I must tell you now, small towns and I don't click. If there are any problems, it usually ends up being because of a small, creepy town. Remember Brookridge where Ames and his pals resided? Well it's a total ghost town now after the pathogen spread." Max explained. Lilith brow arched high at the word "pathogen".

"That's the same thing that will happen to Seattle if we don't stop X63." Lilith snapped. Sarge stood up and broke apart the argument between the two fierce transgenic women. He grabbed Max aside and walked out of the door.

"I'll walk you out of Terminal City." Sarge said to Max as they headed out of the door of the Council room. She watched his piercing red eyes penetrate through people with a deadly stare. Max shrugged her shoulders and looked at the working Transgenics ahead.

"So, no one ever told me about the formation of the Council. I mean, I know you're here and working, but how exactly was it created?" Max asked Sarge.

"When Ms. Lakefield opened the gates of hell by releasing X63 from his cell, some transgenic thought there should be change.'Freak Nation' as you like to call it just failed without your order. Your Eyes Only friend was obsessed with getting you back. He fought and he fought against us to help look for you, but our first intention was to destroy X63. Logan insisted that you were still alive and that the -i-Corporation had something to do about your disappearance. He had gotten into a very physical confrontation with Mole, which was against our rules at the time." he explained.

"So you kicked him out of the Council!" she blurted out. Sarge shook his head and leaned upon a railing that over-looked all of Head Quarters.

"We run a safe environment here in Head Quarters. We try to keep peace among everyone with each other and between the Ordinaries. Logan decided to turn away from his position here and headed out to fight against -i-Corporation. Similar to Manticore, -i-Corp is creating lethal biogenic research and prototypes that are potentially dangerous to our kind. Remember that little confrontation between you and Elena in the District Attorney's office?" he asked. Max went through a series of flashbacks that brought her to the time when the blood dripped into her mouth after the confrontation (Episode 6 Predators and Prey).

"That blood had a serious affect on my abilities. There was also another incident when I was blinded by that purple beast. Was he part of -i-Corp's little army of prototypes?" Max asked. Sarge shrugged his shoulders and looked at everyone working below them.

"Who knows, at this point anyone who claims their a transgenic could be under-cover as one of the prototypes." Sarge replied lost in thought. Back in the conference room, Mole had been talking to Lilith about secret plans. He sat with a wide smile stretched across his green face.

"Max has become a disruption to the Council. After thinking it through, I've decided to exterminate the annoyance. She only causes a road-block to our goal of destroying X63. He's a dangerous figure to have around; he can be controlled by anyone or anything." Lilith began to explain. "I'm sending my little friend over to Max's tonight to finish her off for good."

Mole wondered if Lilith was taking the correct direction for the situation. As much as Mole wanted Max to get done with, killing her just didn't settle well for him. Lilith snapped her fingers and two Transgenics brought in a blue, crawling transgenic into the room. Mole looked at its fierce, yellow teeth and black eyes as it jumped about in the steel cage. The two Transgenics left the room, shutting the door behind them. Lilith walked over to the creature in the cage and smiled. "My baby," she sighed. "I've been waiting for this day for a long time."

Mole looked over the table to see the growling monster trying to break out of the cage. "What the hell is that _thing_?" he shouted. Lilith sat back down and folded her hands to reply.

"This '_thing_' is a fortunate creation of our dear father Sandeman. It's one of his early works before he found how to control the beasts. This _thing _is the answer to our problems. It can track the smell of the victim anywhere within a 4.2 radius. Tonight, before twelve and the changing of the New Year, 452 will be dead." she said looking off into the distance with a grin as Mole sat with discomfort.

--

Lauren sat in her office struggling to write her story. Her boss, Tim Howard had ripped her a new one before posting. He had believed that writing something positive about the Transgenics was disgusting. For some reason, his mind was wrapped into believing that Transgenics were bad people. Lauren wanted to prove to the people through her story that they are normal like everyone else. She walked into his office and showed him the story she was able to spit out in two hours.

"I hope this is better quality than the last one." he said reading her paper. Lauren thought if she should bring the subject back, but it was too risky. She wanted to stay on the good-list of her boss. The next week was promotion week for those who earned it. There were three spots available and Lauren was in the running for one of them. Tim looked up and down the sheet, looking for mistakes to fix before she put it into the column.

"So how is it?" she asked Tim. He handed the paper back to her and was lost in thought. The silence was intimidating and it became very uncomfortable for her. He stared her down and smiled.

"It was excellent work, Lauren." Tim replied. Lauren smiled and was about to head out the door when she looked on his bookcase to see a picture of him and a woman. Stopping, she analyzed the photo upon the stained oak shelf.

"Who is this woman in the picture?" Lauren asked. Tim stood up and looked at the same photo he had been for months.

"That was my wife Dawn. She was killed by a transgenic eight months ago." he sadly said to Lauren as she covered her mouth.

"I'm so sorry to hear that. Is that why you have this resentment towards them, Mr. Howard?" she asked her boss. He rubbed his cheek and flashed his sparkling wedding ring that was on his finger.

"You know, just one transgenic can ruin someone's life forever. That monster killed the one and only thing I loved in this world. She was my life, my soul, my everything." Tim said tearing up. Lauren had to comfort him, but also stand for what she believed in as well. Transgenics were still human-beings and needed to be treated equally the same. "But I've been thinking a lot lately after what you told me about the Transgenics. Lauren, your story was amazing; you really treated those people with such dignity. I've come to a conclusion that they have the right to become who they want to be, to fit in this crazy world. Society is a bitch and it won't be easy for them, but I hope this helps," he said holding up the front cover of the newspaper this week. "You made the front page!"

Lauren smiled and looked at the article that she wrote about the Transgenics. She tapped him on the shoulder and smiled.

"From up above, I bet Dawn is happy that you made the right choice, thank you." Lauren said. He smiled.

"Now get out of here and have fun at the festival of lights! This year is almost over, finally!" he laughed sitting down at his desk. Lauren walked out of the office overjoyed.

--

Linsay cleaned the mess that was left behind after Cindy's success party. She wiped the tables down and sprayed the wall until they were spotless. The floors were swept and the glasses, plates and cutlery were washed and placed away in their proper drawers. The money that was given to the restaurant was respectfully put into the cash register and finally, the job was done. Linsay turned the lights off and locked the front door. Original Cindy had already made her way to the Festival of Lights in the pouring rain, so Linsay decided to clean for her. Just down the street, she could hear people screaming in joy and could see little kids running up and down Main Street. The trees still had frosted white lights among the branches and other restaurants were open and crowded with people. Soft, symphonies played from their open doors as Linsay pulled out a piece of paper from her pocket.

Unfolding the sheet of paper, she looked at the large black font. Smiling, she put it back into her pocket and closed the cash register. Her hair had grown a little longer than last year. Now, it was a short, cute bob-cut, just touching her shoulders. Walking towards the back door, she realized that Max had forgotten for coat over the chair she was sitting on. She grabbed the coat and threw it over the shoulders. Heading back to the door, she heard a noise coming from behind her. Turning around, there was no one there. "Hello is anyone there?" she asked to the dark, empty space. Turning back to the door, she noticed a blue transgenic in front of her. It growled fiercely as it revealed its razor sharp teeth. Linsay dropped Max's coat and the creature recognized Max's scent. It jumped towards Linsay with all four claws pointed straight.

It began to tear through her arms as she tried to fight back. Linsay kicked and kicked until it flew off of her. She got back up and limped towards the restaurant doors. Trying to open them, she realized that she had locked them tight for the night. Running over to the windows, she banged to get people's attention. Blood poured down the windows as the creature dragged her away from the window. Suddenly Max walked up to the restaurant door and realized the blood on the window. Kicking open the door, it shredded in hundreds of pieces upon her entrance.

"Linsay!" she shouted. The creature stopped slicing her and brought his attention to the actual target, Max. Charging towards her, she jumped in mid-air to dodge its jump towards her. Landing back down on the ground, she kicked its chin, causing enough force to flip it back. Once it landed, it crawled towards her once again, fiercely trying to slash her. Linsay crawled underneath a table and tried to hold her wounds to keep the blood loss low. Max got pushed back by its nasty claws and kicked it back once again. This time, the transgenic went on its four legs, tackling Max into a table and shattering it into pieces. Trying to hold off the creature from slashing her, she scanned her surrounding for a weapon to kill it with. Grabbing a hold of broke piece of wood, she pierced it in the chest. Green slime dripped out of its gut as it slumped away from Max.

A big sigh of relief came upon Max as she kicked the dead transgenic to make sure it wouldn't move anymore. Turning towards Linsay, she had been torn up pretty bad and needed aid. "What the hell was that thing?" Max asked. Linsay shook her head as she crawled out from underneath the table.

"I don't know." she said in pain. Max was curious.

"What would it want with you?" asked Max again. Linsay paused.

"It wasn't after me, it was after you. Once I picked up that jacket you left, it was like it knew your scent. I don't know what to say, but someone must have triggered it to know your scent." Linsay explained while she applied pressure to the wounds. Max was lost in thought again the same day. "Do you have any idea who would set you up like that?" questioned Linsay.

"Maybe, I have something urgent to do, will you be okay?" Max asked. Linsay looked at her flesh-wounds and at the alcohol cabinet.

"I'll be fine, just bring me the bottle of whiskey, I need It." she said rolling her eyes and giggling.

--

Renee approached Logan's apartment door and opened it to allow her father inside from the pouring rain. Loud thunder continued to roar and lightning sparked among the clouds. Turning on the lights, she headed towards his living room where his computer was. "Where is this Logan you were telling me about?" William Hart asked to his daughter. Renee looked around for something to tell her where he was. Suddenly, she found a letter that mentioned he was out of town for a bit. She wondered where he could be, he didn't leave any specific details.

The computer had been turned off, but she showed him the cases they had worked on in the past. William was interested in all the work against -i-Corporation. Secretly, he was the sole owner of the Corporation and once his death, Renee was next in the inheritance. For years, General Boyd and William Hart worked together to create -i-Corp and Tri-tech. When the two business partners split, General Boyd ran Tri-tech while William was in hiding from his daughter. -i-Corp was reawakened when X63 was brought out of his cage. If there was one company that was going to succeed in world domination, it was William's -i-Corporation.

"So, where's this Eyes Only located?" he asked. Renee shrugged her shoulders and looked around the room for more things to show. "I mean, he must show himself one time."

"Maybe, it's still the mystery." Renee said. "You know, I still want an explanation about what happened to mom and you. Why is this -i-Corporation interfering with our lives?" she begged for answers. William didn't know what to say to her that wouldn't give his cover away. He had so many secrets to hide from his daughter that could potentially end -i-Corp. Suddenly, he slowly began to grab a hold of his gun from his pocket as Renee looked away. Quickly whipping it out of his pocket, Renee abruptly turned around and aimed her gun to his forehead.

He was shocked. "Why so surprised? Did you think I trusted you just coming into my life like that? Asking about Logan and Eyes Only? I'm not stupid." she snorted. William held his gun high as well, pointing it at her chest.

"I didn't want it to happen this way, you're my daughter." he said. Renee rolled her eyes.

"Shut up," she snapped. "You're nothing to me anymore."

"Just give me the identity of Eyes only and we will both leave this house unarmed." William tried to explain.

"No you son of a bitch!" Renee shouted continuously. William loaded his gun quietly to get ready to shoot. Renee gripped her trigger and waited a couple more seconds. Suddenly, there was a loud bang and someone dropped dead.

--

At the festival of lights, Joshua cheered for joy watching the firework display. Alec held Sara from behind and felt the kicks that their baby was doing in the womb. Original Cindy enjoyed her time outside and away from the business, but she started to worry where Linsay had been. She said that after she was done cleaning, she was going to meet up with them at the Festival. Rafer and April held hands, watching the colors explode in mid-air.

Just down the street, Lauren and Marcus headed towards the celebration with their warm coats on. "Congrats on the front-page story, babe. I knew you could do it again!" Marcus said to his fiancé. Lauren smiled as they walked past all the people eating out on the decks of restaurants with umbrellas standing high above their heads to block the rain.

"Too bad the weather sucks for tonight." Lauren said. Marcus looked at the sky and watched the lightning.

"It's pretty scary up there," he said. "I wouldn't want to be up there right now."

Suddenly, Helen Lorenzo came from an ally way holding a gun to Lauren and Marcus. Lauren jumped out of the way and placed her hands up high.

"Helen!?" she screamed. "What the hell are you doing?"

Helen swallowed deep, rethinking what she was doing. "Mrs. Perfect makes the front-page again. How convenient!" she snapped to the couple. "I bet you're having sex with Tim to get the promotion as well."

Marcus looked at Lauren and back at Helen who had the advantage. "Why are you doing this?" Lauren questioned. Helen started to laugh.

"You're honestly telling me you don't know? Damn, you're stupid. I can never do better than Mrs. Perfect. Mrs. Perfect always wins; she always gets praise by the critiques. Why can't I have the spotlight?" Helen asked. Marcus put his hand towards the gun.

"Helen, you need help. We can get you the help you need, just hand me the gun." Marcus said. Lauren started to tear.

"Helen, I know exactly what you're feeling. I can relate to your situation, but I can tell you that it only gets better from here." Lauren tried to say to angered Helen.

--

Max made her way towards Terminal City Head Quarters with the intention in stopping Lilith. Since the transgenic was sent to kill Max, what better person would it be than Lilith. She always had that urge to get Max back since she joined the Council. Lilith always had this hate towards her and she never knew why. Now that she had the opportunity, Lilith tried to get Max killed and blame it on a transgenic. Approaching the gates, she demanded inside. The rain poured and poured, dampening her clothes and hair. Mole charged out of Head Quarters and finally confronted Max.

"You're alive," Mole snapped. "I was hoping you would be coming tonight so I can kick every square-inch of your ass."

Max walked up to his face and looked him all over. "Get out of my way, dick." said Max. She tried to walk past him, but he pushed her back. Max threw a punch his way, bashing his scaly, green face. "I told you to get out of my way." Mole wiped the dripping blood off his lips and jump kicked Max to the ground and pulled out his dagger. Having the advantage to finish Max off once and for all, he began to hesitate. _Am I doing the wrong thing? Should I stop?_ Mole said as thoughts ran through his head.

--

On flight 230, they had finally approached the city of Seattle. Misty and Anya sat on their chairs looking out the window and watching the distant colors of the fireworks exploding. "I can seem this mommy!" she said. Her mom smiled and looked at the people sitting around her.

"I told you we would be safe," she hugged her daughter. "I love you, Anya."

"Love you too mommy!" she said to her mother while looking out the window. Flight attendant Lori sat in first class with her fellow co-workers, waiting for the stop in Seattle. Suddenly, the plane began to shake and before you knew it, a massive shock of lightning struck one of the wings to the plane. Everyone screamed and the lights busted above their heads. The oxygen masks fell from the ceiling onto people. They all began to create frenzy, grabbing the mask closest to them and breathing slowly to try and calm down. Lori ran to the pilot's area using the walls as support.

"What happened?" she shouted. The pilot looked at the warnings on his keyboard and replied.

"Lightning hit our support wing, we're going down!" he yelled. "I'm going to try and land it somewhere that has a run-way like street!" he yelled. "It's our only chance."

Lori ran into first class to check on the passengers. She noticed little Anya screaming on the floor and her mother dead from the impact. She stumbled her way towards the little girl and checked the mother's pulse. She was cold and her neck was broken. Lori kneeled down and held Anya tight as the plane tilted forward and everyone screamed. The fire burned through all the engines and machines, exploding into more flames that started to eat through the people in the lower class. The plane turned towards Seattle, charging at full speed and completely in flames.

--

As Tim Howard drove in his car towards the festival of lights, Original Cindy and Alec looked high above. "What in the world is that?" Cindy asked. Alec shrugged his shoulders and watched the flaming plane high above, heading their way.

Lauren tried to speak Helen out of committing a crime, but she was too lost and determined to kill. Lauren hugged Marcus as they looked at the plane almost touching the ground. All their mouths dropped as they watched the huge-ass plane crash on Tim Howard's car heading down the street and sliding towards them. Marcus pushed Lauren out of the way and moved just enough so the plane would not hit him, but instantly smash Helen as she held the gun. Blood splashed on them as the massive plane passed and headed straight for the crowds of people at the festival.

The right wing of the plane crashed all the near-by restaurants and buildings, killing the dining residents instantly. People tried to run away from the plane, but its flames were to hot and it moved too fast. Original Cindy's restaurant was next to be crashed. The plane's wing approached her restaurant and smashed it into pieces, with Linsay still inside. Fire blazed out of the windows as the flight 230 headed towards the Festival. Joshua tried to run through the thick crowd of screaming people. Original Cindy pushed and pushed to get out of the way. Sara and Alec headed a different direction, being separated by the onslaught of crazy people.

"Alec!" Sara yelled as people pushed her to ground and began to kick her as they ran away. The plane smashed more and more buildings, breaking through anything that came in its way. Finally, it approached the D.A's old office, crashing into that building as well. This time, the right wing broke off and debris flew in the mid-air everywhere.

Mole let go of his dagger and decided not to kill Max. Max sighed but before she could move Mole out of the way, a piece of flying debris from the plane pierced him in the chest. Blood from his mouth sprayed upon Max as she fell to the ground. "Mole!" Max shouted. The plane continued to head towards the festival. April lost Rafer in the crowds and was able to make it out of the way of the plane. This moment seemed to become slow-motion for everyone. People screamed, both Transgenics and humans. People were being smashed and crushed by the plane. Original Cindy made it to the side-walk and tripped over a dead body. She fell to the cement and slammed her head against a stone for the second time. Blood trickled out of her ear as people walked all over to get out of the way. Plane finally came to a slow stop and the terror was over.

Dead silence plagued Seattle, half the population was lying dead upon the streets. Marcus and Lauren stood up and limped towards the crashed plane in the middle of Main Street. Hundreds of dead bodies covered the streets and they felt extremely lucky to live. Alec got up and tried to find Sara, but he couldn't notice her underneath bodies of over people. The worse thing had happened to Original Cindy. She had awakened from her fall and crawled towards what use to be her restaurant. She stood and screamed in horror as the place crumbled and burned to nothing. The thing that killed Cindy the most was that Linsay was still inside. The countdown was finished and there was no celebration for the coming of the New Year....................

To be continued

**Appearances**

Max

Logan

Cindy

Alec

Sara

Joshua

**Guest Starring**

Erinn

Renee Hart

Marcus Reed

Lauren Benello

Rafer (Special Guest Appearance)

April Lobdell (Special Guest Appearance)

Linsay Gomez

William Hart

Mole

Lilith

Sarge

Tim Howard

Helen Lorenzo

Anya (Guest Star)

Lori (Guest Star)


	13. Episode 13: The Future So Bright

**Readers Note:** Alright y'all, take out the tissues and hopefully you don't cry as much as I did writing it :) This episode is very moving and has a lot of emotional development as the gang adventure through the possibilities of their futures, after the plane crash struck Seattle. Again, this is the aftermath episode, so characters still have to die. I left a lot of cliffhangers last episode and all of them are going to be resolved in this episode. I'm going to try and stay on the normal schedule of posting each Friday, let's see if I can do it this time! Enjoy and don't forget to rate out of ten!! Without Further ado,

**DARK ANGEL**

**The Complete Fourth Season**

Episode 13

"The Future So Bright"

* * *

Previously on Dark Angel,

Tensions are high between Alec and Max, but between Sara and Alec, things are getting better. General Boyd and William Hart plot against Renee, using her to get the real identity of Eyes Only and to take him down once and for all. Also, at the Council, Lilith sends a creature after Max, but it accidentally attacks Linsay instead. In the end, a plane crashes onto Seattle, bringing forth havoc, death and despair.

* * *

With the coming of the New Year, everything had changed forever. The lives of both the humans and Transgenics were affected one way or another when Flight 230 crashed upon Main Street, Seattle. The future road ahead seemed darker than ever; a step everyone feared to take. The thick, grey smoke fogged the approaching Seattle police as they made their way towards the flaming airplane. Tons and tons of fire trucks raced to stop the chaos, unloading hundreds of men and women to put out the blazing fires. People screamed when standing over their loved ones, friends and neighbors. The little children who survived cried until someone picked them up from the rocks. News reporters from the New World Weekly charged to their beginning stories, questioning anyone who witnessed the plane crash. The number of survivors slowly began to increase as the fire department workers pulled people from underneath rocks and scraps of wood. Distant screams came from a collapsed antique shop from the corner of Main Street. Two rescuers wearing bright, neon suits headed with hoses towards the burning ruins. "Can anyone hear me!?" he shouted into the dark, cave of rock. All they could hear was faint coughing deep in the darkness of the arched rocks. "Mrs. Henderson?" asked the fireman. Reaching in, he felt another hand grab his own and he yanked them out. The old woman had survived the crash and now was suffering the aftermath as they confirmed her husband was deceased and did not make it through.

Marcus wrapped Lauren with a wool blanket, protecting her from the cool winds. The couple was untouched and completely safe from the terror that wrapped everyone else in an endless cycle of pain and sorrow. Lauren couldn't fathom the replaying scene of Helen Lorenzo being smashed by the front of the plane. What took almost thirty-five years to grow died within seconds from a large piece of metal. But all the attention was geared towards Original Cindy's restaurant that was up in scarlet flames. Dozens of firemen ran to scene, spraying down the torched-love of Cindy's life and passion. The two things she cared for most was completely and utterly destroyed.

Hardly able to see through her foggy lenses, Original Cindy made her way to the heated scene with endless streams of tears pouring down her torn cheeks. Pushing aside the approaching Sector police and many other injured folk, she stumbled towards the answer she had been longing for, was 'she' all right?

"We're asking if you stay back while we get any survivors out of the building. It can collapse at any minute and anyone inside will have no hope of coming out alive." Said one of the Sector police in charge as he directed the firemen down the dirt path towards the restaurant.

Suddenly, as Cindy was watching the horrific scene and the intimidation killing her, she felt a concerning pain in her head. At first, she thought it was a scrap from her fall, but then came to realization that it was internally, like an extreme headache. It was nothing compared to what she was feeling inside, watching as the firemen disappeared into the dark, ruins of the restaurant.

"Are there anyone in the building alive?" asked Cindy. Marcus and Lauren walked beside Original Cindy and comforted her as she waited behind the yellow tape for answers.

"Let them focus, O.C" Marcus spoke. "You want them to do the best job they can right?"

Cindy smiled and wiped the remaining tear away from her soaked eyes. "Right, I mean, this is what they are trained to do!"

"Linsay is fine, trust me." Replied Lauren. They all watched as three firemen came running out shouting for help. Original Cindy stood to look over the swarming heads that appeared in front of them, witnessing the tragedy. The firemen ran back in with more help and suddenly came out with Linsay, guiding her out into the shouting crowds. People jumped for joy to see that yet another person survived the crash. Original Cindy smiled and limped her way pass the yellow, caution tape towards Linsay who was cut pretty deep. She helped the rescuers grab Linsay by the arm and lead her towards the back of the ambulance. When they closed the doors to the ambulance, Cindy looked up to stars of the night and contemplated her future.

**Original Cindy's Future**

"Food From Home is a delightful change of exotic foods from the south. Cynthia McEachin's warm and inviting restaurant will lure you inside and paint you with colours of scarlet and siennas. The most perfect place to eat out." read Logan from the New World Weekly report as Original Cindy brought in a couple wine glasses to celebrate. The gang had circulated around the bar table in the restaurant, all pouring a different beverage into their glass. Joshua stuck with grape flavoured soda and Sara had water. Lifting her glass high above the circle of friends, Cindy smiled as she watched the bubbles float to the top of the glass in her champagne.

"To...succes," she said, clinging her glass against all of the others. The one glass she thought she wouldn't be clinging was her mothers. Jocelyn had been developing her relationship with Original Cindy for the years they had missed. Cindy never thought of her mother as the most perfect person out there, but she was trying. It didn't help that their past was really rough and the marriages to the men who abused her continually. When Original Cindy's father was put into jail for murdering another human being, things begun to change in her life. Original Cindy became a teenager driven in rebellion, making choices only to benefit herself. She use to go out to parties with her friends, smoke and drink under age. As the economy went under, it seemed that she descended as well.

But the future was different; she made amends with her mother and started a new relationship, fresh. Everything was same in Original Cindy's future, only one person was missing. Unfortunately, she couldn't ponder a successful future with Max still in the picture. Max was her best friend, but if it weren't for meeting her, Original Cindy's life wouldn't be tied up in the mess of Manticore and X63's reign of terror.

This was going to be Original Cindy's future, but after the events of the horrific plane crash, everything changed.

Present Day - January 1st, 2023

The ambulance drove through the thick smoke and flaming building, towards Harbour Lights Medical Hospital, where the survivors were being treated. Original Cindy smiled and held Linsay's hand tightly as they entered the Hospital's parking lot, pondering the future she could of had.

**DARK ANGEL **

Doctor after Doctor raced down the white, pristine hallways towards their patients. Original Cindy sat in the waiting room as they took Linsay in for an emergency surgery. The Doctor believed that there might be some internal bleeding in Linsay livers, which could end fatal. All Cindy could do was wait in the room with all the injured survivors, a room of despair. Coming into the waiting room, Sara and Alec walked inside, greeting Original Cindy. "Thank god you're alright," Sara said hugging Original Cindy as they approached their seats. Alec touched her shoulder and smiled at them all surviving that horrible night. Sara sat upon the chair, breathing in and out from the pain of her baby. She had left her pills at home and she needed them badly. The Doctors that worked a Harbour Lights weren't going to give her the pills she needed. They wouldn't understand why she was feeling the pain she was at the moment. "Have you talked to or seen anyone else?"

Original Cindy looked around the waiting room for anyone else. "I..I just went into the ambulance with my boo. Damn, why does all this crap have to happen to me, to us?"

"How's is she, Linsay?" asked Alec with concern. Original Cindy looked at the room where she was being treated and felt the terrible pain of her head injury. She touched her head lightly and answered his question.

"She's in surgery at the moment. The Doctors wanted to make sure she wasn't suffering from any internal bleeding. Is my boo going to be aliight?"

Sara held Original Cindy's swollen hand as they suffered the pain together. Alec looked into his fiance's, watery, innocent eyes and grabbed a hold of her gentle, delicate hand. Original Cindy and Alec then held each others hand, all together in unison, praying for a light at the end of this long tunnel. While holding both Cindy and Alec's cool hands, she gazed off into the distance, thinking of her baby and soon to be husband.

**Sara and Alec's Future**

Sara stood in her kitchen, wearing baggy clothes and preparing a meal for his husband and family. While stirring the frying beef in the pain, she added some ginger and soya sauce, making it asian style. Many thoughts flashes before her eyes, what if she didn't meet Alec? What if getting married was a bad idea? When the dinner was done cooking and she had set the table, she called her family in to eat dinner at the table for once. A teenager came barging into the living room with her attitude awakened and bitter.

"Mom, why do we have to take time out of our lives to eat dinner at this stupid table!?" shouted her daughter Eva. "All we end up doing is attacking each's throats."

"I wanted us to have a nice family dinner and put everything past us, just for tonight." Sara said as she watched Alec limp his way towards his seat. He didn't even exchange eye contact with his wife and ignored his own daughter. Sara glanced at his finger and noticed that their wedding band and ring was missing. Sara tried to not let it bother her and distract her from this once in a blue moon family dinner. Sara began to eat the dinner at the table, not even looking at her family who was distracted otherwise. While chewing on a piece of ginger steak, Alec threw his fork down and crossed his arms in anger. Sara quickly averted her eyes towards her husband who was in a frenzy. Eva just shook her head in disappointment wishing she had another family. While lifting her hand above her dinner, Eva began to heat the plate of food with her gifted abilities from Manticore. As the steak cooked under her elevated hand, Sara gave her a piercing stare. "Eva, we agreed that we will not use our abilities anymore, it only brings trouble." her mother snorted as she forked around her plate of food. Alec shrugged his shoulders as he read texts from his phone.

"It's not my fault that I'm a freak. You two made me the way I am, why am I cursed with such a family? I haven't done anything wrong and this is what I get, you two." Eva shouted, as she began to heat up and the lights started to burst. Alec pointed his finger at his daughter with anger, warning her not to use her abilities against her own parents. "God, I wish you two were dead!". Sara frowned as she pushed her plate away from the table and looked at her wedding ring.

"Blame your mother, she's the one that gave you your power to create fire." Alec said as he punched in his text to probably another woman. Sara's jaw dropped and her defences rose.

"Excuse me, Alec! That's not helping the situation by blaming it all on me. If anything, you're the one who proposed to me probably because the world was at the break of chaos and you wanted to bang someone." Sara shouted. Eva rolled her eyes as she left the table.

"I'm not listening to your bull-crap. Don't ever talk to me again, I hate you both." shouted Eva as she stormed out of the room. Alec left the table and entered the kitchen to grab some beer from the fridge. Sara grabbed all three plates with food still on them.

"Great, I tried to cook a meal for my family and this is what I get in return." Sara complained she threw the dishes into the sink. The dinner plates had smashed into millions of pieces and Sara didn't care at the moment. Alec slammed the fridge shut and began to shout at Sara for what she had done.

"What the hell do you think you are doing? Don't you think that it's about time you stop trying to be the perfect wife and mother that you're not? This family is nothing but a mistake." Alec admitted. Sara didn't even cry, she had shed all the tears from all the other years being married to Alec and having Eva. She turned around and threw and beer at Alec, hitting him on the face. Blood trickled down his chin as she jumped up and pushed her against the counter.

"I wish I never married you!" screamed Alec as Sara pushed him off of her. He hit against the kitchen wall and Sara lifted her hands and shot to flaming balls towards him. All she could hear was the screaming of her husband and it made her smile for the first time in many years. Tearing off her wedding ring, she took one last glance and threw it against his fried body and left the kitchen.

This nightmare was what Sara feared if her and Alec got married and decided to raise the baby together.

Present Day - January 1st, 2023

Sara awoke from her dream of the future and looked at Original Cindy, who had fallen asleep as well. When she turned to her left, Alec had been missing. She looked around all over the waiting room, looking for Alec, her love, her fiance, her everything. Panicking, Sara began to feel the pain of her baby moving until Alec came beside her with coffees in each hand. Sara quickly brightened up and smiled at his arrival, hugging him tightly. "I thought I lost you!" she said as she held him tight. Alec shook his head and whispered in her ear.

"Never."

--

Max helped bring Mole into Terminal City for the Council to look at him and see if they could fix the issue. A piece of scrap metal had pierced him from the back before he could assassinate her. At first, Max didn't know why she was helping her killer, but in the end, he was one of her own, she needed to stand up for what's right. Having survived the plane crash, Max felt different, like she was actually here for a purpose. Not just the purpose Manticore and Sandeman had made for her, but something of a higher being. She couldn't explain the feeling that was rushing through her veins. Lilith and Sarge headed down the long spiral staircase towards Mole's injured body with concern. Max didn't want to confront Lilith about her little stunt to assassinate her for a bit, she wanted to do it at the right time. Lilith was shocked to see that Max was still alive and well. "What happened here!" she shouted as she ordered three transgenics to bring pain medication. "You did something to him, didn't you?"

"Don't look at me, sister. Have you not seen the huge plane outside crashed over Market and Main street? A rather large piece of metal stabbed him when I was talking with him." Max explained. Sarge looked at the surveillance cameras and noticed the crowds of people being shipped to Harbour Lights for treatment. The plane had been watered down and the bodies had been removed from the scene. Those who survived the plane crash were being taken away to safety and away from all the danger. Max wondered about her friends, if they were alright, if they survived. It scared her to think that after everything they went through together, a natural disaster would kill them. Pulling her cellphone out from her pocket, she started to dial Logan's number. After hearing it ring twice, she changed her mind. Closing the phone, she headed towards the Transgenics operating on Mole quickly.

"Hand me the knife," said the normal looking one. "We need to cut past the piece of metal, their might be a shard loose and heading towards his spine. This could result in paralyzation."

The other transgenic just followed orders and tried to save the life of Mole. While all of this was happening, Max walked on the spot, back and forth. She didn't even want to know what the future had in store for her after the plane crash. She looked all around the room, all the innocent eyes of the transgenics looking down at her. _If they only knew how much they needed me in the end, if they only knew_ she thought to herself.

--

In Logan's apartment, Renee kicked her dead father's body off of her. When they were fighting, she had shot him before he grabbed his gun and ended her life. This time, his 'death' settled a lot better with her than the first time. When he lied about his death in the car crash, where her mother, Amanda had died, she thought she lost her childhood because of -i-Corp. All of this time, William Hart was just planning to return and take down their biggest enemy, Eyes Only. Logan may have not known this, but Renee always knew he was Eyes Only and not someone who had just worked for him. It was when she went snooping through his files that she found out the truth. She didn't want Eyes Only to be brought down by her evil father and the only way to stop him was to kill him.

Renee sat in the middle of the room with tears streaming down her forlorn face. The murder weapon of her father remained in her right hand, drenched in blood. Closing her eyes, she wondered what her future would had been like if she had the parents she always wished she had.

**Renee's Future **

Amanda Hart, Renee's mother kissed her daughter on the cheek as she helped fix her dress. Today was Renee's wedding day, to the man she loved dearly since she was a child. Her mother and her brides mates all did the finishing touches to the dress, hair and make-up for the big march down to her beloved, soon-to-be husband. Renee was glad that her mother and father were both there to celebrate the coming of her near future with her husband, the man of her dreams.

"Are you ready to march down that church and kiss the man you love, sealing everlasting love?" Amanda Hart asked her daughter. Renee laughed looking the mirror.

"No pressure," she added sarcastically. "I'm going to marry the man I love, I get to keep him!"

"Isn't just lovely," giggled Amanda as the wedding music began. "It's time, be brave."

Renee hugged her mother and walked out of the fitting room with all the brides mates and her mother. Waiting at the front of the church, Renee began to get cold feet. She shook it off and smiled and soon enough, it was her turn to walk down to the alter. William Hart grabbed her arm and smiled, as they headed towards the man she loved. "I'm so happy for you, Renee. I've always waited for this day that you would love and cherish another. I remember when you were a little kid and you use to play with barbies. Besides from making a mess each time you played with them, you always planned and married your barbies together. It was a big dream of yours that one day you would get married to the man of your dreams." he said as he slowly walked her down the alter. All the guests, including Logan watched as she smiled and teared at the same time.

"Dad, that was so many years ago, I've grown up." Renee replied. "My barbie days are long gone."

"I love you, Renee. I do hope you know that." William said, stopping his daughter at the end of their walk. Giving her a hug, he whispered into her ear, "Family is the most important thing ever and you taught me that. I wish you the best sweetie."

If Renee's father wasn't the menacing, lying dead-beat father he really was, this was Renee's preferred future.

Present Day - January 1st, 2023

Renee cried in the middle of Logan's apartment floor with the body of her father lying lifeless.

--

Among the survivors of the plane crash, Joshua had been looking for any of his friends. He couldn't seem to find Max or anyone else. Beside him was a girl who struck his intrigue, the beautiful, natural scent that carried off of her lured Joshua. He turned to face her and before he knew it, he was staring into her foggy, blue eyes. She smiled and was completely ignoring what she was saying to him. "Excuse me, could you help me?" she asked. Joshua didn't reply, all he did was stare into her eyes longer. "Are you okay? Do you need some help?" she asked continually until finally Joshua came to his senses.

"Uh, hi there, I..I'm Jos...Joshua!" he shouted, wiping the drool that was coming down his chin. The sweet girl laughed and wiped the rest off for him. Joshua had never seen someone so beautiful, so pristine in a very long time. Nor did he ever have these feelings for another person in such time that he couldn't even speak.

"Hi, I'm Jo," she said back, putting her hand out to shake his. "Full name is Joanna, but you can call me Jo."

"Haha, I like it, b..b..beautiful name, Joshua like Joanna." he struggled to say to Jo as she smiled and stared into his dark eyes herself. "Is Jo hurt from the big boom?"

Jo's forehead creased, trying to make sense of Joshua's odd communication skills. "Big boom? Oh, you mean the plane crash! I'm fine, thanks for asking. Is Joshua alright from the 'big boom'?"

Joshua hyperventilated while talking with Jo. Sector police began to split the survivors into groups to take to a separate Sector of Seattle. They were trying to make sure that everyone was evacuated from the premise and insure their safety. Jo and Joshua were being pushed from the crowds of people all trying to reach the safety zone of Sector 4. The Sector cops grabbed two people at a time, not caring if they were family or not and put them in either Sector 4 and 3. Large, green trucks were parked along the perimeter, constantly loading up citizens and bringing them to their care centres set up in different Sectors. The fatally injured were quickly brought to Harbour Medical and the others were split apart. Joshua tried to take advantage of the time he had left talking to Jo before they were split by the Sector cops.

"So, where is Jo from?" Joshua asked her as they approached the Sector split. Jo didn't respond, she was too cold from the raging winds. Joshua took off his dirty coat and wrapped Jo until she was warm. She suddenly smiled and looked up at Joshua before they were separated by the Sector police. Stretching up high, she planted a firm, warm kiss upon his cheek, leaving a mark of pink lips on his face.

"I hope to see Joshua again," Jo said. He grabbed her hand and the Sector police separated them, putting Joshua in a Sector 4 vehicle and putting Jo into another. Joshua wondered if he would ever see Joanna again. She seemed to be a diamond in the rough, a rare light in this dark, clouded world. Joshua couldn't stop thinking about Jo and how lucky he felt to meet her. Leaning back against the uncomfortable vehicle chair, a Sector cop shoved one more person into the back of the dark, green truck and slammed the doors shut. Inside of the vehicle, all different kinds of people were sitting and reflecting the horrific event. Rafer's girlfriend, April happened to be sitting beside Joshua in the car. She was crying louder than any other person.

"What's wrong with April?" Joshua asked. April wiped the running mascara off her cheek with her sleeve. She looked over to Joshua and shook her head in pain and despair.

"The police haven't found my Rafer yet! I've been trying to see if people have found him or if they know if he's alright, but no one has answered me. Tell me, have you seen him?" April pleaded. Joshua shook his head. April pulled out a picture of him from her wallet and began to ask the people around her if they had seen him after the crash. People either ignored April as she walked around asking for their help, or they haven't seen Rafer. Her only hope was that he was checked into the Hospital and was safe and sound. Joshua thought about his friends again and wanted to know if they were alive and well too. He had been so distracted by Jo's appearance that he totally forgot about his friends and if they were okay like himself.

"Joshua will come with you to the Hospital to see if friends are alright." he said to a saddened April. She glanced at the photo of Rafer one last time and put it back into her pocket.

--

After Mole's surgery, Max waited for the results in Head Quarters with all the worried Transgenics. Lilith glared at Max as she pained to see that she was still alive and kicking. What Lilith didn't know was that Max knew about her little stunt to get Max killed. Sarge on the other hand was completely blind of Lilith's loyalty to Freak Nation and the Council. She was a bad apple and needed to be taken care of, but there were other fish to fry. The Transgenic that was operating on Mole walked into the room with his clothes covered in his blood. "The surgery was successful, the metal piece was removed." he said. Lilith jumped for joy that her messenger was alright. Max felt some weight lift from her shoulders to hear to good news. "He needs some time to rest, he's in some pain."

"Good to hear, I want everyone to get back to work. I want the watcher team to go outside of Terminal City and welcome any injured Transgenics into Head Quarters. We had some trustworthy members out there tonight during the Light Festival. I want all of our transgenics back and out of harms way." Lilith ordered to Head Quarters. As they all got to work, Max and Sarge headed to the Council room. Lilith had other plans and headed towards the room where Mole was resting in his bed. She closed the door behind her and sat on the chair beside his bed. He opened his eyes and looked over to Lilith.

"What do you want?" he asked. Lilith grinned.

"I gave you one simple job and that was to get rid of 452 and what do you do? You go and get yourself stabbed!" she selfishly added. Mole didn't want to hear any of her whining and decided not to listen to her. "Why are you so difficult to handle?"

"What you sent that creature out to do was the wrong thing to do, Lilith!" Mole said, coughing. "Max was right, I should have listened to her from the beginning. You are a disgusting piece of waste. You're just using your power of running the Council to benefit yourself. I think you're part of something more than just the Council, I have feeling you have a separate agenda." Mole explained to Lilith. She sat back and started to clap.

"Well done, Mole. You've done your homework. Wait until Max comes face to face of what we have planned for her." replied Lilith.

"We?" Mole asked.

"I can't afford to have you ruin everything I've worked for to get to this point. Soon enough, Freak Nation will be mine." she said, lifting the pillow from underneath his head. She looked at him one last time and leaned to his ear and whispered, "and you wont be able to tell little miss Max." as she placed the pillow over his face and pressed down tight. Mole tried to fight out of her hold, but he was too weak from his injury and was entirely vulnerable to Lilith's power. Suddenly, after a couple more seconds and some muffled noises, Mole stopped moving. She removed the pillow and looked at his face. His eyes were fogged over and left open. All the life in him was taken away. Lilith lifted his head and placed the pillow back underneath and kissed him on the forehead, leaving the room.

In the Council room, Max and Sarge waited for Lilith's arrival, "Where have you been?" Sarge asked. Max smiled in curiosity, wondering what lie Lilith would come up with this time.

"I was taking care of some business down in Head Quarters." she said. Max couldn't help but think of Logan. Luckily enough he wasn't in Seattle at the time of the crash. She knew he was safe and sound, somewhere faraway from this hell on earth. While she was thinking, a transgenic who was ordered to watch the ground of Terminal City ran into the room with urgent news.

"Something has happened, Mole was found dead!" he shouted. Lilith acted surprised, meanwhile, Max truly was shocked. Standing up from her seat, she ran down into Head Quarters and down a narrow tunnel towards Mole's resting spot. When she opened the door, there he was, lifeless. Another person under Max's watch was dead and she couldn't help but feel guilty.

"What the hell happened here?" Max demanded an answer. The Transgenic shook in Max's presence, unaware of what truly happened in Mole's room during his death. She sat on the chair next to him and grabbed his cold, scaly green hand. Holding tight, she closed her eyes and wondered what her future would be like if she had never been exposed as a transgenic and life at Jam Pony was still the same today.

**Max's Future**

Max entered Jam Pony with Original Cindy on their bikes, parking them on the side of a wall. A friend of theirs passed by with their packages for the day, waving a friendly adieu and leaving out the door. Max could smell the rotten garbage and see the cloud of dust that filled Jam Pony, a beautiful memory she held everyday entering work. Normal chucked three different sized boxes Max's way, each with a different Sector. "You have a long day ahead of you, missy." Normal said as she handed Original Cindy her days work as well. Max frowned, handing him back at package that was too Sector 5.

"No, sorry Normal, but I don't do Sector Five." she said. Normal stopped handing out packages and looked at Original Cindy and Max.

"Oh I'm sorry, I'll stop running this company and hand out Sector Five packages to other people so you don't have to go there." he said. Max smiled for once of how understanding Normal was.

"Thanks Normal-"

Normal started to laugh out loud. "Nah, I just wanted to see how you would react. Get back to work, Max or I can give it to someone who actually wants to keep their job."

"But-"

"Bip bip bip bip bip!" he shouted. Original Cindy gave him a dirty look and walked with Max towards their lockers. Max stared at the Sector Five package and didn't want to have to make that trip.

"Don't worry, Boo. I know you don't want to have to face him again after what he did to you, but my girl needs to get past that. Show Logan that you're a better person than he is and that you've grown past the situation." Cindy suggested. "If you were a lesbian, than I could help you out, but you still drive stick, which is a mistake my girl." she laughed. Max smiled and sucked it up, taking the package and heading towards her bike. Without everyone knowing about Transgenics, she could ride freely down the road unlike the present day. Sketchy tagged along with Max for the ride because he had a package to deliver there as well. While riding down the road, entering into Sector Five, Sketchy looked over to Max.

"What's the big beef about going to Sector Five?" he asked, stupid as usual. Max rolled her eyes and kept on riding her bike. "If it's about your Logan friend, I think you should get over him anyway. The guy had no class."

"Yay, Sketchy, you're not helping. How about you go deliver your package before I punch you in the face, hmm?" Max threatened. Sketchy laughed and drove off onto a different street. Approaching Logan's building, she parked her bike and braced herself for the worse. Holding the package with all her might, she headed down his apartment hallway. When she knocked on the door, she held her breath. When the door opened, a unwanted, familiar face appeared. Asha stood with a towel around her waist, looking at Max holding the package.

"Oh hi Max, can I help you with anything?" Asha asked. Max was so angry that the package broke underneath her arm while she tried to keep a smile upon her face.

Present Day - January 1st, 2023 

Max shook herself out of her nightmare and reassured herself that Logan was hers and not Asha's. Looking down at her hand, Mole's hand was still cold. She looked at his face and his foggy eyes that the light was taken from.

"He didn't deserve this," Max said after having her trip down memory lane. "He still had so much life to live. He was a strong warrior for this team, for the Transgenics. He may not be around but his fire stays lit. Find a good place to bury him." Max said letting go of Mole's hand and leaving Terminal City to head for the Hospital.

--

At Harbour Lights Original Cindy, Sara and Alec all stood up when they saw the Doctor walk into the room with the news of Linsay's condition. He smiled and gave Original Cindy a pad on the shoulder.

"She's going to be alright," he said. "There was no damage internally, but she will need to be on bed rest for a couple of days."

Original Cindy kissed the air, thanking whatever force was out there that made this good news happen. Sara and Alec hugged each other, happy about Linsay and that no damage was done to the baby. On the other end of the Hospital, April and Joshua made their way to one of the Doctors, holding a picture up of Rafer.

"Excuse, have you seen him anywhere in the hospital?" April asked. Joshua stood behind her as she asked around. The nurse glanced at the photo and suddenly frowned.

"I need you to come with me please." she said, guiding April and Joshua into the morgue. In the cold, dark room, the nurse turned the lights on to reveal over a dozen of bodies underneath tarps. Walking over to the end of the room, she pointed to a body that was covered. April didn't know how to respond to the nurse's actions, Joshua analyzed from behind. "If you don't mind, I need you to identify." she said unzipping the body bag to reveal Rafer's bruised and torn body. April paused for a long moment and all hope was abandoned. Her heart stopped beating and the picture that was held between her two fingers was released. Joshua looked away as April showed no sign of emotions. The nurse asked again, "Is that the person in the photo?"

April shook her head and suddenly she bent down a vomited. Joshua wanted to stay with April during this horrible time, but when he turned around, he noticed Max walking down the hallway. Leaving April in good hands, Joshua raced down the hallway, calling for Max. When he finally grabbed Max by the shoulder, she turned and had a delayed smile. Realizing it was Joshua she quickly lunged for a big hug. "I'm sorry big fella, I didn't even recognize you with your new appearance. Lucky for you, you've met Dr. Quentin Saunders." she said. "Anyway, I'm so glad you're alive and well. I was so worried that I may have lost you."

"I'm happy Max is alright too. Joshua met Joanna tonight!" he said. Max smiled, distracted.

"Have you seen any others? Original Cindy? Alec? Sara?" questioned Max. "And whose Joanna?"

"Never mind, let's look around for them." Joshua and Max headed down the hallway until they noticed the waiting room, where the gang was sitting. Max jumped for joy that all her friends were alive and survived the plane crash. Sara hugged Joshua and visa-versa; Alec and Max didn't even exchange eye contact, still having a heated argument over the events of Alec's mistakes during the poker tournament two days ago. Max ran over to Original Cindy and asked her a question, "How's Linsay?"

Cindy smiled, "My girl is going to be aliight. But I think you should be worrying about a certain other someone." she said pointing behind Max. As she turned around, Max looked at the love of her life, Logan. He had just returned from his little trip and was surrounded in a pool of bags and suitcases. She walked over to him and he gave her a large kiss.

"I heard what happened on the news I came as fast as I could." Logan reassured Max as they kissed again. Max laughed.

"Aren't you happy we don't have to wait to kiss each other because of a stupid virus?" she said still kissing him. Logan didn't even respond, soaking in every second he was sharing with Max. Even with all the crap that was happening in Max's life, she was speechless that she got to keep all those she loves dearly. With Logan by her side, she knew she was going to get through this disaster that the plane crash brought Seattle and in the end, she didn't need to contemplate a future with Logan or weigh the pros and cons because she knew in her genetically engineered heart that only good things were to come.

**Appearances**

Max

Logan

Original Cindy

Alec

Sara

Joshua

**Guest Starring **

Renee Hart

Marcus

Lauren

Asha

William Hart

Sketchy (Special guest Cameo)

Normal (Special Guest Cameo)

Jocelyn McEachin (Special Guest Cameo)

Lilith

Sarge

Linsay

Mole

Joanna "Jo" (First Appearance)

April (Last appearance)

Rafer (Last Appearance)


	14. Episode 14: Reunion

**Readers Note:** This episode is full of old plots and conclusions of them. I thought this was an important episode and it forebodes the near future! Hope you enjoy and have a wonderful and happy Easter!!!! Don't forget to Read, Review, and Rate!! :) Enjoy.

**DARK ANGEL**

**The Complete Fourth Season**

Episode 14

"Reunion"

* * *

Previously on Dark Angel,

Tensions are high between Alec and Max, but between Sara and Alec, things are getting better. General Boyd and William Hart plot against Renee, using her to get the real identity of Eyes Only and to take him down once and for all. Also, at the Council, Lilith sends a creature after Max, but it accidentally attacks Linsay instead. In the end, a plane crashes onto Seattle, bringing forth havoc, death and despair.

* * *

About three of four pots were boiling hot, steamy water on Max and Original Cindy's stove as she prepared for a nice, scolding bath. It wasn't often that Max got have a long lasting bath without any distractions. Original Cindy was leaving for the night to visit Linsay, therefore Max had the apartment all to herself. While opening the lid to the large, iron pot to left of her; Max felt the soothing steam caress her face. "This is going to be great," she said walking into the bathroom. "I haven't had a relaxing bath since," pausing to think. "Since that stupid plane crash last month." Original Cindy followed behind her, watching the bathtub routine, already dressed for her night out.

"Are you sure that you're gonna be okay by yourself, boo?" asked Cindy handing her a towel to wrap around her waist. Max lit the remaining candles that hung low on her wall, illuminating the room with a dim glow.

"I'm sure I'm going to be fine, besides you have a date with your girl," said Max walking into the kitchen. Turning the handle upon the gas stove, she began to grab the pots and dump them into the bathtub. "I thought I might visit Joshua afterwards, he seems to be star struck after seeing some girl who calls herself Jo. Did you know these bath beads exfoliate the pores?" Original Cindy was intrigued and grabbed the container to read the back.

"Where did you score these babies?" Cindy questioned as she walked with Max back into the kitchen. Max grabbed a hold of the final pot and headed towards the bathroom for the last time before she can soak in the hot tub.

"I stole them from some store," spoke Max. "You know, these people really need to beef up their security."

Original Cindy leaned against the wall of the bathroom, seeming a little distracted. "I was talking with Sara and Alec and-" Max startled her as she chucked the last pot of hot water into the tub upon hearing the name 'Alec'. "Still not talking to that boy? Ya, he's got some kinks to work out, but he's a good man, which is a rare quantity."

Max shrieked hearing that name; Alec had let her down too many times for him to gain her respect again. "He gambled with lives of others in his pocket, that's more than disgusting." She spat, dropping the towel and soaking herself in the hot tub of water. Caressed by the fragrant bubbles, Max tied her hair up away from her neck and rested her head on the edge of the tub. "He's the last thing I want to see or hear of at this moment." Original Cindy smirked, turning her head when she heard knocking at their door. Max rolled her eyes in disappointment, dropping her face in-between her two hands. "Whoever the hell it is, I'm not here." She whispered to Cindy as she walked towards the door. Opening the door, she was surprised to see Logan standing on the other side. In the bathroom, Max waited to hear the bad news that somewhere in Seattle, she was needed. Anticipating the worse, Logan and Cindy entered the bathroom with concern on their faces. Once Max noticed Logan, she quickly attempted to grab the bubbles around her to block body underneath the water.

"Oh, Max, uh I need to talk to you." He struggled to say as he tried to look away, but he was being lured by the scent of the bubbles and the babe in the tub. Max shook her head in despair, saddened that she had to leave her hot bath for work. Cindy guided Logan out of the bathroom and into the living room. Grabbing her towel, she forced herself out of the bath and into the living room where Logan and Cindy were sitting.

"What is it?" asked Max walking to the kitchen to make her a coffee. Logan stood up with urgent news. Approaching her with caution, Logan wondered what he could tell her before she snapped.

"Max, there's a hostage situation at Crash held by three transgenics. I wanted you to stop it before the authorities get involved. Are you up to the challenge?" Logan asked her as she sipped the coffee.

"They couldn't wait to hold a bar full of humans hostage for a little longer, just until my bath was done," she complained while Cindy and Logan remained mute. "Fine, let's get this over with." She said standing in the kitchen and waiting for the others to move. All they did was stand and stare at Max as she waited for them to make the first move. Then realization came over Max as she looked down at the single towel that wrapped around chest. "I guess I need to change before I fight." When everyone was ready, they headed down to Logan's car parked outside. Driving down Sector Five, they reached the searching center, where Sector Cops asked for their Sector passes. "Crap, I don't have mine with me." Said Cindy patting her pockets, remembering for a brief moment, the loss of her restaurant. Logan handed them each a pass, coming prepared.

"I had them made, I figured I would carry some extra with your names on them in my glove compartment." Said he handing them the passes to enter Sector Four. The annoying Sector Police checked each of their passes and they drove up to the entrance of Crash. Parking, Logan turned to face Max with Cindy poking her head in the conversation from the back seat. Max didn't know what to say to Logan, who was staring at her.

"What?" she whispered. Logan was lost for words at her reaction.

"Well, don't you think we should strategize and formulate a plan of attack?" he asked concerned. Original Cindy punched Logan on the shoulder. "Hey, ow."

"My boo doesn't need to strategize, she's got 'kicking ass' already programmed in her." Cindy said. Max opened the car door and strutted towards the large building with the bright, neon sign reading, "Crash". Original Cindy and Logan trailed behind her, both hiding something from their friend.

"I better get to fight, I want to kick something," Max added. "And if we hurry, I might make it back in time for the rest of my bath." She said lifting her leg high and launching all her strength at the steel door. The door broke off the hinges and made a loud landing on the stone ground. Max stood at the door with a fierce look on her face, looking at an empty, dark Crash. Logan walked inside with her, waiting for a certain something. "I thought you said there was a hostage situation, not an empty bar!" remarked Max as she walked deeper into Crash. Original Cindy stood at the light switch near the front door Max had kicked down and turned the lights on. Suddenly, several people jumped out from their hiding spots, screaming 'surprise' to the top of their lungs. Max jumped on the spot; all around her were people with balloons and more people. She turned to Logan with her eyes bugging out of her sockets and jaw dropped low, not knowing what was going on.

"Surprise!" Logan chuckled.

**DARK ANGEL**

All of Max's friends circled around the table of junk food and colorful beverages. Crash was decorated in many different balloons and streamers of many shapes and sizes. Max looked at the midnight blue balloon floating beside her at a table that read in white letters, "Birthday girl". She faked her smile at the arrival of Logan and Original Cindy. "Happy Birthday Boo," said Cindy.

"I don't have a birthday," Max said. "When did you guys plan this?"

"Yesterday," Logan replied. "We thought that we would throw a birthday celebration for you because you don't necessarily have an official one." He explained to Max as Sara and Alec made their way to the conversation. Sara held her stomach, feeling the baby kick. "Happy Birthday, Max!" Sara said giving her a wide hug because of the baby. Max smiled and sat down with her pitcher of beer.

"It's not my birthday, but thanks anyway." Max said, dreaming of the tub filled with warm water at her apartment. Sara felt a little uncomfortable and asked if she could leave for one second. Walking to a hallway near the bathroom, she dug in her pocket for a contained of painkillers. Opening the bottle, she didn't even count the amount she needed, just chucking the contents in her mouth and swallowing dry. The pain was soon to go away after having the pills and then Sara would feel better. She looked at the container and realized that she was empty, needing more pills for similar times like these. It was time to contact Beverly Shankar for more of the painkillers; the pain was becoming more tolerable with the protein barrier medication. Heading back to the party for Max's some-what of a celebration for her birthday, she was welcomed by two new guests, entering Crash from the back exit. Marcus and Lauren held two different, neatly wrapped presents held between their arms.

"Hello Sara, did we miss much of the party?" Marcus asked. She sipped her cup of water and looked into the room where the centre of the part was being held. She then brought her attention back to Marcus and Lauren who were waiting patiently for an answer. "We are somewhere between socializing, gifts and cake. I'm kinda looking forward to the cake part, the baby likes vanilla and luckily enough, theirs vanilla icing," she giggled loudly. Realizing how awkward the conversation was, she quickly changed the subject. "I..I'm just going to go back to the party, yea." Sara left Marcus and Lauren to themselves and they joined the party shortly afterwards. An hour passed and people started to break up into groups to play games. Joshua, Renee, Marcus and Lauren played a game of cards at one table, while Original Cindy, Linsay, Max, Logan, Sara and Alec enjoyed a long conversation at the bar. When it was time for the the traditional opening of the presents, Max sat on top of a table, tearing open each present. Linsay handed Max a crinkled, paper bag with a homemade, violet bow on the top. She smiled and watched Max open the present.

"This one's from me," Linsay said cheerfully. "I thought that you might enjoy this."

Max grinned as she tore the bow off the present. Looking in the bag, she brightened to see that there were two large chickens and some rare fruits. "Thanks you guys," she said. "It's really hard to find these kinds of foods now-a-days. I look forward to making these for a great dinner one time." Max replied, giving both Original Cindy and Linsay.

"You best be inviting me over that night you make that chicken." Laughed Renee. The next present was given to Max from someone she least expected. This one was a dirty envelope with Max written in cursive with black ink. Alec handed her the envelope and waited for her to open it. Max remained mute, looking at the envelope and all the guests circled around her, waiting for her to open the odd gift Alec was giving Max. Alec smiled weakly at Max. She frowned. Dumping the contents out of the envelope, she found a large bundle of money bound together by an elastic band. Max averted her eyes to Alec with baited breath.

"What is this?" she wondered. The room was mute, watching attentively as the tension between them grew stronger. "There has to be about ten thousand dollars in this envelope, how the hell did you get all of this?". The anxiety ripping at her insides were beginning to show on her face. If she only knew what had happened for him to get this amount of money or what point he was trying to prove, even if it was as bad as she was imagining, it would be better than this horrible uncertainty.

"Don't worry how it got here, just know that all the money in the envelope is everything I owed you from awhile back, plus interest. I never got to fully pay you back for saving my life when Ames put that exploding thingy in my head-"

"Yea, well now I'm starting to regret it," Max snapped. Alec chuckled.

"You're welcome," he pressed, analyzing all of Max's gestures and emotions evident. Alec was perplexed, watching Max just give him an undecided, but solid stare. Original Cindy and the others viewed the uncomfortable quiet in Crash until she finally decided to break it for good.

"I think its time for cake, bitches." she said, giving everyone the chance to leave the table and head towards the freshly baked cake by Original Cindy. Alec and Max continued to stare at each other for some time, until Max left the table and headed to the bar area. Logan followed behind her, catching up and becoming concerned.

"What happened back there between you and Alec?" Logan asked. Max shrugged her shoulders.

"Nothing happened, what's the big beef!?" she asked annoyed and sipping her pitcher of beer. Logan looked at Alec and Sara and back towards Max who was soaking in her bitterness.

"Well-" Logan was interrupted by Max's answer.

"It was just a little business, nothing more. I wold assume to have his full cooperation, but trust me when I say I do not care for anything else." she explained to him. Logan grabbed his glass of beer and read Max as he took a large gulp of the strong tasting alcoholic beverage. When the party was ending and people were leaving to return home, Max settled down after all the excitement. Original Cindy and Linsay stayed behind to clean up the mess of empty, plastic cups and snacks bowls. They had let her go home and have a try at that bath again. Her goal to end a Birthday night was to finish her warming, soothing bath. Walking to her apartment door, she dug for her keys in her pocket. When placing the key in the lock, she noticed the door was slightly open already. Shocked, she placed the keys back into her pocket and got ready to attack if needed. Opening the door slowly but surely, she noticed two people standing in her living room. Max ran to the room, jumped over the couch and tackled the female on to the ground.

The two girls began to fight equally as strong as the guy pulled Max off his companion. She rolled off to the side and flipped back up to face the two intruders. "As much as I love a good ass kicking before speaking, tell me who the hell you are before I make your face meet your colon-" she threatened, being interrupted by a soft, familiar voice. Opening her eyes to make sure she was looking at who she thought she was, she smiled. "Syl!" Max lunged in for a hug while being reunited with one of her sisters from Manticore. She thought that she would never see them again. An email once every other month was not enough to keep Max satisfied, she longed to see the only family she had. To her surprise, Krit followed behind Syl, giving her a hug as well. "How did you guys find where I live, I'm just speechless." she laughed as Syl seemed a little distracted.

"Max, I would love to sit down, have a coffee and catch up but there's a problem." she admitted, cutting right to the chase. Max crossed her arms.

"When is there never?" Max asked rhetorically, making a small smile stretch across Krit's face. Syl handed Max a map of the underground tunnels that ran along Sectors two, three and five. "What's this for exactly? Are you going to tell me what's happening?"

Syl and Krit paused for a moment, trying to think of how they were going to approach this sensitive topic. "Max, when Manticore was destroyed we thought she was dead, but in recent events, we happened to be wrong and what we feared has come true-" Syl was then cut off by Max.

"'She'?" she questioned. "Syl, who are you talking about?"

"Brin," Syl replied. "Max, Brin is still alive, but her attentions are completely dangerous and we have to stop her." Syl explained to Max. Max was utterly in shock, not knowing how to respond to the flow of information swarming her way. Krit didn't say a word and let only Syl take the stand of speaking.

"Spill it!" demanded Max, unsatisfied, "What's Brin planning to do? What is our sister planning?". Syl was caught off guard, allowing Max to follow the clues and look at the map of the underground tunnel ways to designated Sectors. Max wasn't ready for the answer that Syl was about to say; Brin hadn't always been the most perfect of them all. When Manticore brainwashed her to become a soldier and to be put on various missions, it was like their sister was completely taken away from them. All that walked around was an empty shell without feelings, without sense, only muscle and a gun.

"She's planning to create a rebellion against the human race; Max, she's gathered all of our brothers and sisters and some other transgenics underneath Sector Three. She asked for us to locate you and bring you to the tunnels and join the rebellion, Syl explained, "I can't fathom the idea of Brin and our brothers and sisters following along with such a thing. I know the Ordinaries treat us like filth, but we should be lying low."

"Take me to her," ordered Max. "I want to see my older sister."

--

Sector Three: Underground Tunnel Route

Krit, Syl and Max walked down the damp, dark tunnel way, smelling the sewage and rotted body parts of transgenics. The tunnel ways wasn't exactly the best place to be on a saturday night but the situation was far too prudent for them to ignore. Rats passed back and forth on the wet, repulsive ground as they charged to their meals of aged flesh and trash. Krit held his flashlight up high, leading the way for the two girls. Rusted wires and ladders blocked one quick entrance into Sector Three, so they needed to make a detour. Going around the corner and passing a stream of unwanted, green water, Syl found a ledge to shimmy across. Signalling Max to go ahead first, before Syl or Krit made their way. She scanned her surroundings and found a rusted water pipe to grab and hold of while she shimmed across. When Max was done, Krit followed and then soon Syl. "So, how've been, little sister?" Krit asked Max as they walked to Sector Three's entrance. Max smiled, rethinking all of the past events since she last spoke with them. As much as she wanted to complain about it, her life, just wasn't up to par. It seemed every time something good was going to happen, the bad just rolled on in, rearing it's ugly head.

"The same old, same old. Now I got this Familiar's creation on my plate of problems. The worse thing about it is that I can't even touch him without becoming a punching bag. He's just too strong that some times I feel like just giving up, but seeing you guys here gives me motivation. Enough about me, where have you two been? I haven't seen you guys in like forever." she explained, throwing the conversation over to them. Krit shrugged his shoulders, not knowing where to start.

"After the destruction of Manticore, we ventured to Wyoming, where we followed lead that led us to a couple of transgenics locations. We gathered as many as we could and then we couldn't figure out where to hide them because authorities were trying to find them. After our trip to Wyoming, we headed too Phoenix, Arizona. Since then, we've been playing it on the low side, making sure we watched everything that happened in Seattle, so when the time came, we would help," Krit mentioned. "We were wishing it didn't come down to this, with the Ordinaries pitting war against our kind. Unfortunately, that's what happened and Brin thought we should make a stand for our rights against the hostile humans. I'm all for standing up and getting through to them that we are people like themselves, but Brin is taking the wrong approach."

"Tell me about it-" she paused and thought about it. "Actually, don't. What does she think she's accomplishing by rebelling against the humans, it's evident that we're out numbered!" Max thought. Syl didn't know what to say, their sister was never the same after Manticore recaptured and brainwashed her. She was always driven to do good in the most inhumane ways; Brin was very complex. The three X5's made it to the underground meeting area, where a group of transgenic creatures circled around their voice. Max moved past the lit torches and demonic looking people, worse than she had ever seen before. Reaching the middle of the circle, she became face to face with her long, lost sister Brin. She smiled at Max's arrival, walking over and analyzing her head to toe. The room was silent, only the loud, heavy breathing of the transgenics filled their ears. Max was mute, not knowing what Brin was going to do next. She smiled.

"Long time no talk, Max." Brin whispered. "I've been waiting for this moment, when we were all reunited together for the same cause. Now my rebellion is complete, I have everyone here that I need to stop the corrupt government and get our point across that we're more than just 'monsters', we're people.". Syl and Krit both looked at Max with concern, not buying anything their rebel sister was saying. Brin stepped down from her elevated, stone step and was now eye level with the other transgenics. Her dark, hazel eyes met with piercing, yellow eyes from all over the room. Through viewing the scenario, she came up with the conclusion that Brin was there leader, similar to Max and Freak Nation. Max was attempting to lead them to salvation, a world where Transgenics and humans can be alike. Yes, Max finally had a chance to make a difference and stop Brin from making the mistakes that could potentially end her life and have the humans kill her.

"Brin, what exactly are you planning to do to the humans? Anything big and the whole world will target us again for doing what you're doing. We must stay low, it's hard enough that they knew we exist. Don't try anything stupid, we didn't learn anything of that in Manticore. If there was one thing Manticore taught us that was useful, it's to take the problem slowly and strategize." Max said trying to get her point through to Brin. On the other hand, Brin thought differently. The plan of attack seemed perfectly necessary to take forward, especially with the transgenics future in mind. Brin grabbed her machine gun that was leaning against the stone wall and lifted it high above her head.

"This world has become hell on earth ever since the humans discovered our race. We need to stop the Ordinaries, starting from the top. Tonight we make our move, tonight we take down the Mayor of Seattle!" Brin shouted. The twenty-some transgenics circling around Brin all roared in a thunderous volume. Max stood alone and lost for words, not being able to make her point with the majority against her. Max grabbed Brin's arm and pulled it down from above her head.

"What the hell are you thinking, Brin?" Max took the lead, "You think by terminating the Mayor of Seattle, you will be giving us the fighting chance to what, be able to walk the streets at night? No, this is not the right route to take, you should know that by now!". Max tried to convince Brin otherwise, but she was stubborn. Brin averted her attention towards her sister Max. The room all watched their conversation, silent. Brin shook Max's hand off her arm and pointed to the transgenics.

"Look at them, Max. Each one of them want freedom, the freedom just to even show themselves outside of these gross tunnels! I heard about the Council and I'm not willing to work with transgenics who think they are the boss. We are our own boss, we make our own rules because tonight is the night we fight." proclaimed Brin as she walked down the stone steps with the aid of the Transgenics hands. Max watched Brin leave her spot and be treated like a goddess.

"Brin, you're making a mistake, don't make me do something I don't want to do!" Max threatened. Brin stopped in her tracks, turning around with a piercing stare sent to Max from the other end of the room. Syl and Krit viewed from behind, making sure Brin wouldn't do anything she would regret. Brin approached Max with haste, slamming her against the stone wall like nothing.

"Well, I can't have you get in my way now I can I?" Brin asked, "Sorry little sister, this is something I have to do for the team." she said knocking Max out with a large punch. Syl jumped out to stop Brin and before you knew it, Brin sent the other transgenics after her, then Krit. Brin stood over her three siblings and charged out of the tunnels with her following of transgenics.

--

Logan forked a piece of sesame chicken out of his chinese take-out container, while listening to his latest case from a woman he least expected. Christa Jenkins was sitting on the maroon chair in front of Logan with her purse on her lap. She had long, curly blond hair with high cheek bones. Her skin was tanned and her face had no signs of imperfections. She sat crossed legged, revealing her dark red high heels. She wore a shiny, slick lip gloss and her eyes sparkled whenever she smiled. Her plea wasn't necessarily something Logan as Eyes Only would try to solve. She was asking of something completely different than his line of work. "-So you're asking me to help you stop one of your ex-boyfriends from stalking you?" Logan asked Christa as her feminine charm lured him to say 'yes'. Not letting him say 'no' once more, she opened the buckle to her rare prada purse and pulled out a crinkled picture of her ex-boyfriend.

"Maybe if you look at the photo, you might change your mind. Sometimes, just looking at him you know he's bad news." she giggled, handing over the picture to Logan. He looked at the photo and understood what she meant. He had sharp, gelled spiked hair with dark eye make-up. In the photo, he wore brass knuckles as a normal accessary.

"You're right, he does have that affect on people," Logan spoke, "What made you date him in the first place if you don't mind me asking?". Christa was set back by that question and she really didn't think he would want to know the answer to that. She pursed her ruby lips and tucked her golden hair behind an ear.

"Well to tell you the honest truth, he just gave me a buzz unlike any other. I met him while I was working and we hit it off from there. And between you and me, he's awesome in the sack if you know what I mean. Who knew bad boys were such for the play," she blurted out. Logan began to feel uncomfortable, trying to change the subject back on the job.

"So what is it exacty that you want me to do - uh, I mean Eyes Only to do?" asked Logan, quickly saving himself from his little mistake. "This isn't really in his particular interest of cases for the Eyes Only Informant net. We unjust criminals and corrupt goverment facilities, not stalkerish boyfriends."

"I have money, lot's of money actually. I just really need some help and get away from this guy and I heard you were the one to contact." Christa revealed to Logan as he leaned back in the chair thinking how popular he had gotten. When Seattle was evacuated because the Transgenic over-ruled, Logan had abandoned Eyes Only because he became a prime target. Awakening the Informant Net was the best thing he could had done. Christa's feminine appeal seemed a lot more luring and it led Logan to say something that was least on his mind, 'yes'.

--

Max slowly opened her eyes, viewing her surroundings and quickly getting hit with the realization that she was chained to a stone wall. Trying to stretch her arms out and attempting to break the seal of the chain, she turned her head to Syl and Krit, who had been trying the same thing for the previous hour. Max's lips were stained of the blood that ran through her veins; the blood that was apparently made for a greater purpose in life. From her moment of shock, she quickly descended into pain from the punch exacted upon her face. Not only was it just a genetically engineered punch, but it was from someone she loved dearly, Brin. She was making mistakes like always, trying to make her point known. This time, she was going after the Mayor of Seattle that was potentially going to destroy all positive attitudes towards Transgenics. Max wouldn't be able to deal with such a burden that she could have stopped her from succeeding. She tried again and again until finally broke free from the stone. "We have to get to Brin fast before she sets her attack. We're all in for a big whirlwind if she even touches the Mayor!" she mentioned as she broke Krit and Syl's chains.

"Do you have a plan of attack?" asked Syl as she rubbed her wrists from the pain of the tight chains. Max shook her head and started to exit Sector Three.

"I'm going in blind at this point," she replied. "Brin is a strong sister of ours, Manticore didn't go easy on her 'programming' if you will. She is someone who is very determined and stubborn and we all know she won't stop until she succeeds. I need to go and grab some supplies from Logan's, but then we can make our move."

"What's going to happen to Brin after all of this goes down?" questioned Krit. Max continued to walk down the sewer that smelt of death and was emotionless.

"I don't know," she said, "We will play it by ear."

"We're not exactly on her favourite list at the moment," Syl spoke. "So, we're just gonna go up to her and say 'hey, Brin, this is wrong'?"

Max didn't even exchange eye contact with her as they headed to the rusted ladder, exiting the Underground tunnel ways. Walking down the crowded lanes of Market Street, the three transgenic X5's headed towards a large look-out on top of a building. From here they would be able to see Brin and City Hall to see if she was going to attack soon. While standing above Market Street and with her arms crossed, she felt the cool breeze caress her upon the face. Overlooking Seattle was peaceful and calm; somewhat oppisite of her life. When the plane crashed on Main Street and destroyed almost every building built along the road was demolished. Flying shards of metal had killed many of the residents at the Festival of Lights that horrid night. One casuality left Max with a bitter taste in her mouth, someone she could had saved, Mole. He wasn't exactly the best person and he always succeeded in being a large pain in her ass, but she cared for him like any other Transgenic. Fortunately, Seattle started to rebuild themselves with the profit earned over the many years and today, it was almost done. Some restaurants such as Original Cindy's were take away never returned, others had enough money to fund and keep their business going. Yes, Seattle was becoming a better place, slowly but surely. It helped that the economy was increasiling getting better as the years passed.

--

Having broken into a weapons shop just around the corner of Sector Four, Syl and Krit loaded with their guns and for one of the first times, Max did the same. She didn't want to have to shoot Brin, nor use a gun in the first place, guns just weren't her thing. She was all about the raw fist fighting and knocking someone down with her bare hands and feet. She was 'gifted' with enhanced qualities, she might as well use them for the better. Heading to the grounds of City Hall, Max shoved Syl and Krit behind a row of bushes. Using her enhanced hearing, Max listened to what Brin had to say to her group of rebel transgenics. "What's wrong?" Syl questioned, "Is she there?"

Max placed her finger upon Syl's lips, making sure she didn't speak a word. Max listened in on their conversation as Brin quickly crept up behind a guard and swiftly breaking his neck. She could feel his neck snap underneath her fingers as his head twisted past the comfort zone. She let the body drop to the cement and quickly used a lock picking kit to open the front doors. The other transgenics took out the surveillance cameras around City Hall to make sure know one could seem them breaking inside. Brin and her group entered City hall, while two transgenics stayed outside to watch the perimeter. Holding their guns high, they talked while ignoring the City Hall Grounds. "The Mayor won't see it coming," the first one said, "Once Brin succeeds, we can take her out ourselves."

"Yea, then we have the power over Seattle." the second murmured. Max took this to her advantage and played with their distraction. Quickly running to the front door, she kicked the first transgenic down to the ground and let Syl and Krit hold him. The other one tried to load his gun and shoot, but Max had already took it away. Holding his neck tight, she cut his oxygen and made him fall into a quick sleep. The other transgenic was pinned on the ground, allowing them to ask him the questioned that needed some answers.

"Hey, why don't you tell me what Brin is planning to do?" she asked, placing larger amounts of pressure upon his twisted arms. He fidgeted, trying to break free from her hold.

"Get off of me, 452!"

"Why don't you address me by my real name, Max" she demanded. He laughed back.

"You don't have a name, none of us do," Max shook him more, "We're a series of numbers and we will never have a certain identity. It's pretty pathetic that you have to create a name for yourself when you know what you truly are, unreal, non-human."

"Tell me what Brin is going to do!" she asked once again, ignoring his comments about their origins and getting right to the point. She twisted his wrist, until he could feel the bones in his arms force in another direction. The transgenic felt as though his arm was going to tear completely off.

"I think with a little more super-strength, I'm going to one less limb!"

"Well, tell me what I asked for, then maybe you can keep your arm." Max demanded, twisting his arm even more. Syl and Krit could hear the cracking of his elbow as she moved forward with the intimidation.

"She's going to the roof of City Hall to shoot the Mayor as he leaves for a trip with his family!" the transgenic revealed. "Please, just let my arm go."

Max let his arm go and decided to punch him out, not trusting what he would do if they left him by himself. Krit opened the front door and the two girls followed behind. In City Hall, everything seemed untouched by the pulse. The paint used to brush the walls a hinted green was rare to find in the market, the leather furniture in the waiting room was beyond a rich person could buy and the dimmed lights were beautiful, similar to the ones that were in Original Cindy's reason. As they headed towards the back stairs, Syl, Krit and Max made their way to the rooftop. Letting the wind blow through her hair, Max reached the edge of the the rooftop that overlooked Main Street.

"Where is she?" Max asked. Suddenly, Syl and Krit were held back by two other transgenics of Brin's rebellion. Krit looked to the left of his shoulder and could smell the rot of a scaly, blue creature beside of him. It was unlike any Transgenic he had ever seen. Brin jumped down from a vent high above Max with a loaded, fire-powered rifle in her hands. Max tried to think about her next move she was going to make, but she was too distracted by Brin's stupid actions. There was nothing far more worse than to kill the Mayor of the human race living in Seattle.

"Oh Maxie, why do you have to fight me on this? I should have known that a couple of steel chains wouldn't keep you locked up. But the thing I don't get is why your soul intention is to stop me from destroying our main problem. If we want our people to become a successful Nation, we need to take down our enemies." shouted Brin. Max rolled her eyes, adverting them to the many transgenics on the roof of City Hall.

"Killing isn't the solution, Brin. I know that Manticore brainwashed us otherwise, but killing other human beings won't get us anywhere," said Max, "Stop this nonsense before someone gets hurt."

"That's it right there, the problem. You refer to us as other humans but we're the complete opposite. We're not human, we don't have a soul, we were made in a lab. We are artifical prototypes on Manticore's twisted menu, nothing more. Do you know how long I've been hiding since I've escaped Manticore. Many years scared of making any moves or revealing myself to public because I thought everyday was my last. I lived life on the run and I'm so sick of this. If anything, you started this mess; you unleased the gates of hell and expect us to clean your diaster!" Max sighed, "I'm sure you know by now how many of those creatures locked up in Manticore's basement have been a problem to the human race. They are running this world, with abilities unexplained, intentions worse anyones. They were made to kill and that's what they have been doing."

"Trust me, I've pondered my life the way it should have been if I didn't release those transgenics from their cages at the Manticore zoo. I've thought about it a whole lot and guess what I've concluded?" Brin shrugged her shoulders at Max's question, "I don't regret anything I've done. Releasing these beings into the world was the best option. They had no choice, they were lost and in pain of isolation. Manticore put them through horrible obstacles and when they didn't succeed, they discarded them like trash. I'm sick of people blaming this on me because in the end, you're here because of me. All of these minions of yours are here because of me."

Brin's transgenic group all began to doubt their motives and questioning their supposit leader. She began to feel uncomfortable and so she hit Max on the face with the end of her rifle. Falling on her knee, she quickly got back up and was now face to face with Brin. "I told you before I didn't want to hurt you, but I didn't say I wouldn't!" Max threatened, raising her fist and slamming Brin's face with hard knuckles. Brin's head flew back, but quickly flung back like a spring. Syl and Krit took that as a signal to begin fighting the transgenics holding them useless. Syl head butted the green one behind her, making him let go of her arms. Meanwhile, Max and Brin were at it, fighting back and forth upon the rooftop.

"Even if you stop me here, there are more like us all over the place. Do you think I'm the only one preaching, baby? I can't wait until realization bites you in the ass. I love you as my sister, nothing will ever stop making me love you, but If I have to get rid of you, I will." Brin said, kicking Max in the face with such strong force, that she flipped to the cement ground. Cracking her jaw back into place, she spun her leg around, knocking Brin to the ground ats well. Jumping back up, Max caught her sight on the rifle that had fallen from Brin's hands. Charging towards it, another transgenic from Brin's group jumped on her back. His long, black tongue licked Max's vulnerable cheek, making her cringe.

"You taste like dark chocolate," he heavily breathed, "Come closssssseeeerrrrrr" his long tongue was like a snake, hissing and snarling. Max elbowed him off of her and grabbed the rifle. This time, Brin punched Max in the stomach, and then upper-chucked her in the chin. Max lost grip of the rifle and at that moment, the Mayor headed out of the building. This was the perfect time for Brin to finish him off for good. Syl and Krit fought off the transgenics trying to prevent Max from stopping Brin. She pointed to rifle off the roof and looked through the eye piece. She made sure the red square was directly at the Mayor's head and she rested her finger upon the trigger. The snake transgenic grabbed Max with his nasty hands once more, hanging his tongue around her ears.

"Lemme go!" she shouted, forcing her hands to grab his tongue and tear it off. He screamed as black goo leaked out from his mouth. Max ran towards Brin, pushing her off the roof and taking herself with them. Everyone looked over the building and watched as Max and Brin were in mid air. Finally, Max landed on the cement sidewalk and Brin went through the roof of a car. The Mayor hopped into his car and drove off with security. Max tried to ignore the pain of her deep wounds and bruises. She rolled off the sidewalk and onto the road. The rifle lay alone in between the two girls and Max wanted it badly. Brin brushed all the pieces of glass off her body and launched herself off the dented car. Brin grabbed the gun and pointed it at Max.

"I guess this is it little sister, we finally get to see who comes out on front!" Brin said, pressing the trigger and realizing there were no bullets in the gun. She was confused at Max's smile.

"Do you think I would have let you have this fully loaded?" Max asked, "I took out the bullet package up on the roof when you weren't looking."

Brin threw the gun on the ground and grabbed a shard of glass from the smashed car as Max rolled to the side and grabbed a piece of scrap metal from her left. The two landed in front of each other with each of their sharp weapons at each others necks. Max held the piece of sharp metal near Brin's throat as Brin did the same to Max's throat. The two remained undecided of when or if to attack, but they made the other think otherwise. "What are you going to do, Max? Kill me?" Brin taunted. Max tried to teach her kind that killing was wrong and that they should let all live, but this situation was ironic. She could handily slash Brin's throat and take away a life in her hands.

"You would like to blame me for that, wouldn't you." Max said to Brin. She smiled and leaned into whisper in Max's ear.

"You're not going to be killing me yet, not yet." she whispered, quickly leaving the deadly hold and running away into the dark. Max didn't bother to go chase her, Brin wasn't a threat for awhile. She looked up at the roof and Syl and Krit smiled at Max for what they had accomplished.

--

"....wow, what a night!" Logan said, giving Krit and Syl hand shakes while Max watched in the background.

"So much for a birthday night," Max laughed, "I guess this is the last I'm going to see you for awhile."

Syl and Krit wanted to stay with Logan and Max, helping to fight the forces of evil here, but they had to leave, "I wish we could, but we have to keep up our own line of warriors." Syl replied. Max didn't understand why she needed too. "Max, the humans aren't going to stop until they are the superior beings like they were for years and years. Soon, we are going to need to fight back."

"Well until then, I'll see you later." Max said, watching Krit and Syl leaving Logan's apartment. On their way out, the phone started to ring. Logan looked at Max and answered.

"Hello? Oh, okay, we'll be there soon, bye." Logan said, hanging up the phone. Max was curious.

"What's wrong?"

"That was Beverly Shankar, she has some urgent news about that unknown black substance we found in Brookridge." he explained, "Remember, where Ames and his breeding cult buddies hid Ray?"

"I wonder if it connects to the deaths of the townspeople," Max answered, "Well, what are you waiting for, let's go."

_To be Continued_

**Appearance**

Max

Logan

Original Cindy

Alec

Sara

Joshua

**Guest Starring**

Renee Hart

Krit

Syl

Brin

Marcus

Lauren

Christa jenkins (First Appearance)

Dr. Beverly Shankar

Linsay


	15. Episode 15: Artificial Love

Omg! Hello everyone! I know, it's been FOREVER since I have updated this series- Life got in the way but I have so much free time now, enough to continue this series like I had planned out. I leave little previously on Dark Angel notes at the beginning of each episode. If you need a reminder, please do read those and it'll help you with the events of this episode. This episode, I used to end one of the old characters story lines. I realized it was time to end them. They were dragged long enough and I hope it gives enough closure to your liking! Leave comments for me to improve, things you liked etc! I enjoy reading them and they give me the drive to continue writing. I have the rest of the season thoroughly planned and I am also planning to write them and post them a lot faster. Enjoy!

**Dark Angel**

**The Complete Fourth Season**

Episode 15

"Artificial Love"

Sitting in the passenger seat of Logan's vehicle, Max listened to the rain splash upon the roof. The noise was calming to her, it usually allowed her to clear her mind and think of things that often made her smile. _Right smiling, what is a smile anyways? Too much going through my mind, people to kill, the end of the world to stop... I have no time to smile. Besides, there isn't anything left in my world to make me smile, well except him. _Max looked over at Logan, who was picking the chinese out of his teeth from her 'Birthday' celebration with her friends. Her future was with him, she could already imagine the life they could have together. It was hard though, her being created to raise a race of Non-human creatures but having to make time for someone she loved dearly; human at that. It surely was a challenge but Max was all for challenges. Looking out the window of the passenger seat, she tucked her chocolate, brown hair behind her ear and swallowed before she spoke out loud, "Do you think it will work out?" she asked, perplexed. Logan adjusted himself on the chair, putting his cell phone on the dashboard.

"Pardon?"

"Us... we've had so many chances and when we take them, we get shut down. We have evil Deputy Mayors undercover in hiding, a large creature/human/droid thing running amuck and a prophecy that we don't even know when it's going to happen. We can't get a break and whenever I try to find a solution to make us both happy, in the end, it lead myself back to having to save the world. It was like I was made to love you but by standing behind glass walls." Logan caressed her cheek, smiling and looking into her dark eyes.

"We WILL work out, I promise you that- We got a lot in store, my dear but we'll get through it. We always do."

"Okay," she responded, lightly kissing him on the lips when Beverly Shankar opened the door to the warehouse, signalling for them to enter. Inside, a warm glow lit the room. Candles were were placed upon the tables of scattered papers. Files of Beverly's patients lie untouched and dusty but open for the naked eye to see. Similar symbols caught Max's attention. One horrifying image that always kept her on her toes, the Breeding Cult's icon. The snakes gave her the chills, seeing as though they carried the blood that was needed for the ritual. Entering Beverly's work place, she had made both Max and Logan wear white suits and a huge mask that covered their air.

"What's with the space suits?" Logan asked. Beverly chuckled, pulling down the zipper to enter the area surrounded by one huge air bubble. She led the way into the middle where stood a glass cube. Within the cube was the familiar black goo that had been taken from Brooke Ridge not too long ago by Joshua, Alec and Max. However, there was something significantly different from when they last saw it. Inside the cube, the sticky black goo began to move, bouncing off the walls like it were alive.. or was it alive? "What the hell?"

"Doc, why is that _thing _moving?" Max asked, poking at the glass when suddenly it slammed itself up against the glass wall of the cube to meet her finger print. Throwing herself back from the cube, Max looked at both Beverly and Logan in awe. "That's so gross"

"I've been testing this goo since you've given it to me- It's been growing... rapidly I might add. All the tests are coming back negative, nothing can solve exactly what it is. I've gone through journal after journal of others that have studied scientific phenomenons and none have come across something like this. If I had to take a guess, it's a mutating gene of some sort. It has it's own proteins, it doesn't need to eat and it doesn't go through sleep cycles, it constantly grows and is aware. I've never seen anything like this before. I wish I could give you more." said Beverly as she tapped the glass cube with her pen. Max bent down on her knees to take one last look of the mutating creature within the cube.

"So this small thing killed a whole town of people? When we got to Brooke Ridge, there wasn't anyone left. It had seemed that everyone was killed off, total ghost town and the weird thing about it is that there were no bodies. When I found C.J, there wasn't anything that he could tell me that would tell us what happened in that town. Something weird though, doesn't give me good vibes." Logan cut off Max's train of thought to speak with Dr. Shankar.

"What about the medical journals from the Archives in Manticore? Were they somewhat helpful? There must have been documented research on projects that were never successful, ones that were kept secret. Lord knows how many things Manticore has created."

"There was one thing that struck me odd after reading through Donald's recorded labs. It has nothing to do with this little creature but maybe it will help you out with that demonoid project. Apparently X63 can go into overload sessions. The creation can only withstand so much, that his system will shut down for a period of time if too much power was given to the main source. I have no idea where the source would be located in his body. I would assume Manticore did some safety rewiring, almost like when criminals change the code colours on the wires when making bombs. A smart technique, only they know the combination of wires to cut." replied Beverly.

"That helps a lot, now if I could just get close enough to him then I could search for this 'Source' inside of his body and rip it out." Max said. Beverly took off her gloves and walked outside of the bubble to show Max and Logan something she had found. Taking off the large mask, Max looked at a piece of paper Beverly was holding.

"See that? It's a diagram of what was used to construct X63. He isn't exactly that easy to pummel through, he's made with six inches thick of steel all around. Your Manticore strength wouldn't be enough to manipulate his structure in order to get through to his main source. We would need tons of strength."

"Hm, we'll find a way. I'm not letting him walk around in Settle or anywhere for that matter, killing the amount of people he is. He's left a trail of people with the same blood type, murdered on the streets of Washington, Michigan, New Jersey and other places. I heard it on the news." Max mentioned, which led to Logan's new train of thought.

"Our friends at the New World Weekly published an article about the recent deaths and they're currently keeping a total. The death rate is alarming and it's interesting that he's only targeting a certain blood type. What happens if he runs out of fuel?" Beverly crossed her arms and looked into the distance.

"I suppose he'd shut down, long enough for you to grab that source out of his body and destroy it."

"The problem is, he needs to stand still for however long needed to dry him out of blood." Max noted. Logan shrugged and walked over to the table of Manticore medical journals. "Now about this mutating gene whatever, what are you going to do with that?"

"I haven't the slightest idea, I'll keep it under 24 hour watch for now and unfortunately, it might get too big or too strong to stay within the cube, which will then lead me to having to move it. I am so not looking forward to that."

"Be careful, you don't know what that thing could do. Right now, that's all we have connected to wiping out a whole towns population." Max said, grabbing Logan's arm.

"We'll keep in touch" Logan said leaving the warehouse alongside of Max. Entering the car, Max realized something wasn't right. Opening the car door, it was instantly closed by someones kick. Max flung against the car along with the door, hitting her shoulder hard. It was revealed to be the Asha-bot grabbing Max by the arm and throwing her onto the ground. Logan opened his car door to search for his gun under the seat but it was no where to be found. The robot went in for a punch, slamming down onto the cement of the parking lot, just missing Max as she rolled over to the side. Jumping up, she kicked the robot, pushing her onto the cement. In a quick twirl, the robot spun with her leg sticking out, knocking Max back onto the ground beside her.

Logan searched and searched for the gun, finding it under the passenger seat of his car. The robot sat on top of Max, choking her and quickly cutting her air supply. Max tried to ply the robots hands off of her neck but she was too strong. Logan cocked the gun and aimed at the robots head but when he shot, the bullet just bounced right off. Max rolled her eyes and continued to fight off the robot from killing her. Logan scanned the area for something to stop Asha. He quickly spotted a rock and slammed it upon her head, knocking her off of Max. This gave Max enough time to get up and kick the robot in the stomach, making her flip in mid air and back on to the cement.

"Where the hell did she come from!" yelled Max, dusting the rocks off of her coat. Logan picked up the gun from the roof of the car and noticed that the robot had left without them knowing.

"We missed her. I still can't look at her the same, she still looks identical to Asha. It's like that's her skin and everything." Logan said.

"What I am going to tell you is going to gross you out even more! That is Asha's skin, they used her body to stretch over the parts of the robot. When I was in -i-Corp, I remember seeing that happen when you guys came to break me out. I just couldn't remember it so much due to that idiotic dream machine thing." Max mentioned. Logan was lost for words, he couldn't even explain he thoughts on the subject.

"They skinned her?"

"It's okay, we'll end them both! That scrap of metal and -i-Corp." Max said sitting herself back into the car and closing the door. Logan looked out into the dark of the night in the parking lot, sensing that Asha was still around...somewhere.

* * *

Original Cindy stirred the coffee in the coffee cup. There was nothing like the fresh smell of coffee that made Original Cindy smile every morning. But right now, it was late at night. She had just come back from Max's Birthday party and was looking forward to spending the rest of the night relaxed before her bed. Joshua sat in the living room with her, watching the very few channels they got on the TV through their cable. Every day, they either lost a network or gained one. Tonight, they gained a few and that was perfect for Joshua. While he was watching TV, Original Cindy sipped her coffee, staring at the screen. The reporter spoke about the incident that night, "What seemed to be an attack on the new Mayor of Washington, has alerted authorities to search the streets for a woman who looks like this" the camera zoomed in on Brin but from a distance. There was no clear view for the viewers to get a 100% identification. Original Cindy flipped her hair and put her coffee down.

"That girl gets herself in too much trouble." She said out loud. Joshua pointed to the screen and smiled,

"She's Manticore! I remember her from a long time ago. She was a tough cracker."

The reporter continued to speak, "If any one has information on the whereabouts of this female please contact us! Our number is located at the bottom of the screen. Here are some helpful notes: She is female, asian, approximately twenty years of age and is assumed to be a Transgenic. Her use of force was strong and Non-human like-" Original Cindy turned off the TV and sipped her coffee again. Joshua turned his head to give her a dirty glare.

"Don'tchu be lookin' at Original Cindy like that, be useful and take out the garbage. It has some raw meat from your dinner the other night. It stinking up my apartment." she said handing him the stuffed garbage bag. Joshua walked out into the hallway and up to the window that was slightly opened. From here, he would throw out all the garbage bags and they would directly land in the bin below. Throwing the bag out, he noticed three people in the alleyway, arguing. Two masked civilians were attacking a younger, female for her purse. Joshua yelled stop out the window but they continued, ignoring his useless warnings. Suddenly, he climbed out the window and landed in the garbage bin below. Meanwhile, the Asha robot was walking towards Max's apartment door to attack whoever was inside.

Original Cindy sat down on the couch and flipped through her magazine. She read through articles about helpful tips to keep your skin young and elegant. While reading, she often thought of Linsay, her cop girlfriend who was super badass and super sexy all at the same time. She missed her. Linsay would leave on business trips that had her working 24 hours non-stop, with only a few hours break in between another 24 hour shift. Flipping to the next page, the silence of the night was plagued with a loud bang. She quickly looked up at the door that had been smashed down to see the robot. Original Cindy quickly got up from her seat and backed up to the window. The very window that Max had kicked the Asha-bot out of during Thanksgiving many weeks ago. "Oh snap, I thought you were dead." she said, backing up against the window. She robot walked over to the couch, grabbing the arm and throwing the piece of furniture across the room. "Hold the hell up, that's my couch you be throwing around!" she shouted, taking her cup of coffee and throwing it at the robot. The touch of hot liquid burnt the side of Asha's skin, making it slowly reveal the wires below.

Making a run for the door, the robot turned and grabbed Cindy by the shoulders, tossing her across the room. Landing on the ground, she quickly picked herself up and made a run for the bathroom down the hall of her apartment. Reaching the end, she entered the bathroom and shut the door, locking it and grabbing her cell phone that was charging by the plug to dial Max's number. While trying to reach Max, she wasn't picking up. Original Cindy freaked, leaving her an alarming message, "Max, get your tiny white ass home ASAP, we got a hot robot on red alert!" she shouted, hearing Asha punch through the wooden door and break through.

-Joshua had gotten himself out of the garbage bin and headed towards the two robbers attacking the girl. Grabbing both of their shirts, he flung them against each other, knocking them both out. The girl bent down on her knees to get her belongings and stick them back in her purse. Joshua gave her back a lipstick that had fallen out and looked at her face to realize she was Joanna.

"Thank you so much, that was so kind!" She said, dusting herself off and slinging her purse around her shoulder. Joshua touched her face, making her uncomfortable.

"Jo! Joanna Jo!" he snorted, making her giggle.

"Joshua, my goodness! I am so glad to see you! I haven't seen you for a month, I thought I had lost you ever since the night of the crash. I'm glad to see that you're okay."

"Yeah, Joshua's okay but how is Jo?"

"I'm fine Joshua, thank you for asking. Your like my guardian angel, being around whenever I need you. I thought I was actually going to get robbed right there. Where did you come from?" Joanna asked, starting to walk outside of the alleyway. Joshua followed, answering her question while directing her to the apartment entrance.

"I came from Max's house. M-m-my friend, Max! Here, come with me, I'll show you." he shouted in excitement, grabbing her arm and pulling her into the stairwell of the apartment. While walking up the flights of stairs, Joanna watched Joshua. Looking at the back of his neck, there wasn't a barcode that she was looking for. Her eyebrow arched at the found discovery. Thinking of a question to ask,

"Do you have any of those sexy tattoos? I think a tattoo on a man is kinky," Jo asked, looking at Joshua to hide her true intentions of the question. He shook his head while walking up to the eighth floor entrance. "Oh, that's fine too!" She smiled, perplexed. Upon entering the hallway, Joshua ran towards the apartment door, leaving Joanna behind.

"Original Cindy!" He shouted, entering the apartment and stepping over the broken door. Joanna followed behind him, looking at the destruction of their apartment.

"What happened, Joshua?" she asked, stepping over the broken door and coffee mug. The sign of a struggle was evident, alarming Joanna as she advanced further into the empty apartment. The bathroom door had been torn apart, much like the front door and the mirror was shattered, showing droplets of blood off the rigid edges. It was like someone had used much force and smashed their head against the glass structure. Joanna backed away from entering the bathroom any further because of the glass that covered the floors.

"Original Cindy isn't here! We have to find Max." Joshua worried, sniffing through the apartment to find a certain scent. "Come on, if you follow me, we can find Original Cindy by her scent. She always wears nice scents for Joshua to smell. Hurry, let's go!" He said, following an invisible trail of scent, intriguing Joanna. She quickly pulled out her phone and sent a text to an unknown individual. The message read,

_He is showing signs of his ability. I will text for further advancement. Might need back up._

Joshua led Joanna outside of the building and to the alleyway where he had just saved her from the robbers. Their masks lay on the dampened cement beside an entrance to the Underground Tunnels. Joshua bent onto his knees and smelt the entrance way. "Down there?" Joanna asked. Joshua took another second to sniff around the corner and came back to the sewer entrance.

"The smell is coming from down there. It ends past this point. You should stay here, Joanna. Joshua doesn't want you getting hurt. Original Cindy is down here and I need to save her, no Max around to help."

"Are you sure, Joshua? It's pretty dirty down there and we don't even know what took your Cindy friend, it could be anything!" Joanna said back. Joshua held onto her shoulders and shook Joanna.

"I can take whatever is down there! I need you to go to safety."

"I am not leaving! I am coming with you." Joshua took one last look at Joanna and opened the entrance, revealing a narrow staircase that led to the Underground Tunnel ways of Seattle.

* * *

While driving in Logan's car, Max dug her hand in her pocket to look for her phone, curious if she had any messages. It was often that one of her friends would text her or call her for help. It's the life she was _created _to live. It bothered her at times, always being the person that needed to save people. Why couldn't anyone fend for themselves? _Right, because not everyone was genetically engineered to stop demonoids_ she thought as Logan came to an intersection. While digging in her left pocket, she had discovered that there was no phone. So, her next thought was to check her right pocket, which was also empty. "Logan, do you know where my phone is?" asked Max as she entered into a frenzy. Logan took his eye off the road to investigate the car for the phone but it was nowhere in sight.

"Maybe it fell out of your pocket when you were fighting that robot." Logan suggested turning the car. Max shook her head, annoyed.

"Why is there always something ruining my night, seriously!" she bickered as he approached Beverly's work place once again. Stepping out of the car, Max noticed her phone was beeping because of a recent message. Opening her phone and entering in the code to listen to her messages, Max heard Original Cindy's panicked voice. Once the message was over, Max glanced at the time it was received and ran to the car, demanding Logan to drive to her apartment.

* * *

In the Underground Tunnels, creatures that humans are unaware of lurk around. They find little animals to feast off of while they remain hiding in these dark depths under Seattle. Joshua once considered leaving down here, scared of all the people that would find him unattractive and scary. He wasn't like his brother Isaac, that was a creature, Joshua wanted nothing more but to fit in. Ever since he got his genes fixed by Sandeman's good friend, you could hardly notice that he was a Transgenic, one of the first! THE first! With the help of the no barcode business, Joshua was good to go. The only thing he needed to learn were his manners and communication with humans. Also, Max had warned him about his tendency to speak in third person. But all of that didn't matter right now, he needed to find Original Cindy. Sniffing around the corner, something blocked his senses. Suddenly, realizing what was near, he stopped Joanna in her tracks. Signalling her to keep her mouth shut, he turned around the corner to meet another Transgenic's claw.

Joshua fell to the ground, suddenly getting up and pushing the darkened Transgenic against the wall. Joanna backed away, pulling a taser out of her purse if needed in the fight between Joshua and the Transgenic. The creature was rabid, not like the normal Transgenics from the Council. _It_ clearly was untrained and hungry for food. Joanna took a good look at Joshua's face, which turned back into the dog like feature. She was startled but expected nothing less. Joshua was unaware that his face changed back to the Transgenic look while he was fending off the creature. "Stop, I am on your side!" Joshua warned but the creature was too far away for change and with the snap of his neck, Joshua had killed the Transgenic and rested it's body on the ground. Looking at Joanna, he smiled. "You're safe now."

"Your face, Joshua." she pointed out. Joshua touched his face and suddenly let out a scream, turning away and putting his hood on to block his face.

"What happened! I thought it changed, I thought it changed, no more, no more! Bad, ugly Joshua! No more!" she chanted back and forth. Joanna observed his behaviour and was only intrigued. She lightly touched his shoulder, which he then nudged her off of him but she didn't back down. Going in for another try, Joanna attempted to comfort Joshua.

"Joshua, it's okay! I know what you are or should I say _who_ you are. It doesn't bother me at all. Let me see."

Joshua pushed her away once again, scared to reveal his face to another girl he liked. Not after Annie, that was scary enough.

"How did you know?"

"It's obvious dear," she chuckled "Now let me see!" Joshua slowly turned around but had his face covered by his hood. When she pulled the hood away, it revealed his dog face. Perplexed, she traced a line on his face down to his mouth. Suddenly, his face turned back to human like. Joanna was even more confused. "It's back, your face turned back to normal!"

Joshua didn't respond at first but then touched his face and jumped for joy. "It's gone, why did it come back and disappear again?"

"I don't know, Joshua but we got your friend to save!" Joanna reminded. Joshua quickly jumped into mid-air and continued his sniff out for Original Cindy. Approaching the third Sector, Joshua heard screams coming down from around the corner. Joanna pulled out her taser from her purse, ready to defend herself when she needed. Being sly was important, they didn't want to alert the enemy that they were there or big trouble could ensue. Turning around the corner, they noticed Original Cindy tied against a pillar holding the Sector together. She was moaning from the pain, enough to let it be known that a lot was done to her. Joshua quickly looked around to find where the culprit was and there was no sight of her. Advancing forward, he reached the Sector entrance and approached Original Cindy, with Joanna following behind.

"Original Cindy!" Joshua shouted but suddenly he went quiet. "Joshua is here to save you."

"Joshua? Good dog, now get me outta this, the rope is making my wrists dry." she responded, waiting for Joshua to untie her from the pillar when suddenly the robot appeared from behind them. "Watch out!" Cindy warned but Joshua was too slow to dodge the enemy's attack, knocking him onto his side. Joanna pulled out her taser, thinking she was shocking a human but she was wrong. Once hitting Asha on the side with the taser, she suddenly watched as the shock powered the robot even more.

"What the...?" Joanna ducked from the robots swing of the fist and escaped. Joshua tried to get back up but the robot kicked him in the side once again, flinging him against the stone wall. Joanna ran through the Underground Tunnels, looking for an exit. She could see the glowing eyes of hungry Transgenics watching her panic and escape the tunnels. She couldn't help but feel that something was chasing her, so she sped up. Finding a set of stairs, she ran out into the open, close to Max's apartment. Running down the street, she pulled out her phone and called an individual, "I need back up now! My Transgenic is hurt and being held hostage by some unknown prototype. It doesn't seem to be anything human, although appears human. It powers up by electricity." Once she said a few, "mhm, Yes, ok's", Joanna shut her phone and entered Max's apartment door.

Upon entering the 8th floor where Joshua's friend's apartment was located, she noticed that two people were standing by the door. "Max?" Joanna called out. Max turned around looking at the unknown girl.

"Yes?" Max asked. Logan went into the apartment to search through the damages. "Who are you?"

"There isn't any time for introductions but I know where your friend is, the girl has Joshua as well. She's hiding in the tunnels around Sector 3."

"Why should I trust you?" Max replied. Joanna took a deep breath.

"What else do you got? Come on, follow me."

Max looked at Logan, concerned and followed Joanna down the hall and out into parking lot. Meanwhile, Joshua was beaten up and against the stonewall of the Sector. He glanced at Original Cindy from time to time, who was trying to untie her ropes. The robot walked over to Cindy and felt her smooth skin.

"Sorry, I'm not into robots." Cindy replied, forcing her face away from Asha's grip.

"Your skin, how does it feel to have real skin?" The robot asked. Original Cindy shook her head at the question.

"What kind of question is that? Is this some kind of torture technique? Wait, are you going to skin me? Oh hell nah!"

"Just answer the question, human."

"It feels good, especially when you use certain moisturizers, which you desperately need my girl. I can hook you up, you'll have soft skin in no time."

"This isn't my skin. I wish I had my own but I am aware that I am not human. I do not enjoy hurting you but I must."

"Then why do it? If you don't like hurting me, why are you doing it? No ones forcing you!"

"This is where you are wrong, I am forced. I am not human, I do not have my own free will. I am programmed to hurt you. As I look at you, I read that the girl I am impersonating did not like you. You apparently, 'kicked her ass black style' and now I am made to hurt you." the robot said. Original Cindy smiled.

"You got that damn right, I kicked the shit out of that girl. Asha was a bad person."

"She's not bad, Asha had good intentions and was in love."

"In love with who?" Original Cindy asked. "Logan?"

"Correct, she had feelings for him, strong ones. They couldn't replicate such emotions in my system but they tried. I've viewed you all over the weeks, ever since your Non-human friend kicked me out the window. I was approached by a friendly Non-human like herself, except this one was much bigger than I have ever seen."

"Wait, describe to me what this person looks like," Original Cindy requested, "How big exactly?"

"He didn't look Transgenic, although he had multiple parts of each. Some Transgenic, some human and some animal. He approached me and asked me questions about human life, how they functioned. It intrigued me that such a creation had so many questions. His project name is titled, X63."

"Damn, that's the big bad here in Seattle. What information do you got about him?"

"Not excessive amounts. My creators didn't give me much on his origins. Just that he is strong and someone not to fight with." The robot said, saying nothing useful to Original Cindy about X63. Anything would have helped but yet again, nothing new about him. Moving around, the rope tied to her wrists began to dig into her skin.

"Could you loosen the ropes a little?" Cindy asked, "They be cuttin' into my circulation and then I won't have nice skin for you to take!"

The robot sighed, walking over to Original Cindy and loosening the ropes when suddenly Original Cindy kneed the robot in the chest. "Ouch! Damn woman, what are you made out of?" she asked, breaking herself loose from the ropes she had untied behind the robots back during the questionnaire and attempted to escape. The robot adjusted herself and grabbed Cindy by the air, picking her up airborne and throwing her across the room. She slammed against the stone wall and fractured her elbow.

"How dare you try to cross me! You humans are so manipulative." the robot said, walking up to Cindy and grabbing her arm once more. "Let me finish the job!" she threatened, expanding Cindy's arm outward and aching the broke elbow. Original Cindy screamed at the pain when suddenly, Max grabbed the robots arm.

"You do NOT want to do that," Max responded, punching the robot out of the way and releasing Cindy's arm. "You okay?" she asked her friend. Cindy stood up against the wall, looking at Joshua and back at Max.

"Girl, you couldn't have come at a better time."

Joanna ran towards Joshua to see if he was well. He had a couple of bruises but not anything of worry. She held him tight to wake him up while Max ensued battle with the robotic Asha. She walked over the her while she adjusted her settings. "Come on, fight like a man." Max taunted, kicking her only to get have her foot grabbed by the robot and swung against a wall. Max shouted because of the pain that was brought to her back. Sliding down the wall, she dodged the robots punch that created a whole in the stone. Jumping up, Max kicked the robot in the side and on the face. Breaking out of the wall, she had carried a circular piece of stone stuck around her fist. Swinging her fist back and forth, it was slow enough for Max to dodge the large piece of cement. Max jumped in the air and used enough strength to kick Asha against the wall, which broke the cement, freeing her hand.

While the two girls fought, Original Cindy coped with the broke arm and elbow. The robot punched Max on the chin, then pushed her against the wall to choke her. Wrapping her two strong hands around her neck once more, she held strong, cutting Max's breathing. While she chocked her to death, Max looked around her body for where the power source would be. She remembered talking to Beverly about the Power Source and with her senses, Max used all her might to punch through the robots stomach and reach a cylinder shaped container. Holding it in her hand, Max tried to pull it out of Asha but she wouldn't budge. "Tell me something." Asha requested to Max while she held her life in her hands.

"What?" Max said using all her strength to pull the source out. The robot released her grip off of Max's neck.

"What does love feel like?" she asked, looking to Max's eyes when suddenly she let Max tear the source out of her body, making the robot nothing but a scrap of metal. The robot fell to the ground and the green lit cylinder shut down in Max's hand. Beside her feet, the robots body lay dismantled and lifeless. Several armed men ran into the Sector with guns, pointing at Max and the others.

"Who the hell are you?" Max asked, throwing the robots life source onto the ground. One of the armed individuals took off their mask to reveal a familiar face. Erinn stood holding a gun in front of Max.

"Nice to see you, Max. We'll take it from here." Erinn said, looking at Joanna. "Thank you for calling us. Everyone, let's remove the robot's body and bring it to Lt. Dean, he'll be glad. Agent Robins, how's your Transgenic?"

Joanna looked at Joshua, who was slowly awakening from his fall, "He's alive, no internal damage." she replied. Erinn smiled and looked at Max, who was royally confused as Original Cindy.

"I'll explain everything later, Max. Right now, we have to get out of here. Come on, let's move out!" The armed men carried out the robot, while Joanna held Joshua and both Max and Logan carried Cindy out of the Sector. Back at the apartment, a couple of agents helped Logan repair Max's front door while Erinn stood in the living room talking to both Cindy and Max. Joanna sat beside Joshua while he sat on the bed, bandaging himself up. She cleaned out his wounds and lightly touched the darkened bruises on his rough skin.

"Joanna, what are you?" he asked, confused. She sighed, tapping his arm with a warm towel.

"I work for the FBI. It was no accident that we met on the night of the crash. I was assigned you as my Transgenic, I'm technically your guardian angel, heh." Joanna said, noticing the irony in her words. "I'm not evil, I'm the good guys, Joshua. I know you may feel betrayed right now but it was for a good reason. I'm here to protect you, nothing less."

"How could you be with someone like me? My face... it's hideous."

"You're perfectly fine to me. Actually, you're kind of cute. It's totally against protocol but I think I'm crushing on you." She laughed. "Now, let's get you bandaged up!"

~Erinn tied up her hair off her neck, explaining to Max her whereabouts, "We've been tracking down both Sierra and X63. We haven't had much luck on X63 but we know he's in town. He can't live unless he sucks the blood dry from certain individuals. He's starting to get craftier though. He hides the bodies. And if he wants throw us off, he breaks their limbs apart and scatters them around town. Joanna here called us to help out after Joshua was in trouble. Much like I am your protector, she is Joshua's."

Original Cindy stood up and ignored her pain, "So like, that girl in my room is an agent like yourself?"

"Correct. We're bringing the robot into our lab tomorrow to see how exactly -i-Corp designed this prototype. It might help us discover how to dismantle X63 since many of -i-Corp's documented design plans are replicas of Manticore's. Poor girl"

"Who?" Max asked. Erinn reflected on the robot.

"The girl they killed to impersonate. Who in the right mind skins someone and replaces their identity with a science project like that. It's sick."

Max smiled, sitting up from the couch and walking over to Logan, who was finishing a conversation with a couple of armed agents. "So, you guys get paid how much?" Logan asked when Max interrupted.

"Becoming an agent are we?" she laughed. Logan chuckled as well.

"Talk to you later guys," he said walking off with Max into the kitchen. She crossed her arms while he touched her bruised neck. "She got you bad."

"It'll heal, that's what I do." Max said, looking off into the distance. She thought back to her encounter with the Asha-bot earlier that night. Something struck her deeply, about what the robot had said. They were very similar, being made in a lab, having to experience emotions for the first time but both lacked one thing. When the robot had asked Max what love felt like, it saddened her to realize... she didn't know the feeling herself.

* * *

**Next on Dark Angel-**

Max discovers the truth about her Mother's status, is she alive? Julian and Alexis return and the startling connection between Max and Julian is finally revealed. An all new Dark Angel, coming very soon!

* * *

**Main Cast**

Max

Logan

Original Cindy

Alec

Sara

Joshua

**Special Guest Stars**

Erinn

Joanna

Beverly Shankar

Asha (Final appearance)


End file.
